The Competition Commission has kicked off a 15-month probe into how Google, TikTok, YouTube, X and other video-sharing sites and social media platforms are affecting the health of SA's news media.
The market inquiry will consider whether digital platforms distort or restrict competition in a media landscape that is already struggling from falling advertising and the lingering impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The inquiry will investigate whether there is an "imbalance in bargaining power" between digital platforms and the news groups that rely on them for referral traffic.