Compensate news publishers or face legal action: Ashwini Vaishnaw warns digital platforms

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday (February 26) warned digital platforms of legal measures if they fail to come up with voluntary arrangements ensuring fair compensation for news publishers and content creators.

Addressing the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) Conclave 2026, the Union Minister further stated that it was mandatory for digital platforms using journalistic content to share value equitably with those producing it.

“Platforms must work to share fair compensation for the content they use from publishers and creators. They either do it voluntarily or else there are legal ways to get it done,” said Vaishnaw.

Liability and synthetic content concerns

“Non-adherence to these principles will definitely make them responsible because the nature of the Internet has changed now,” he added as quoted by the Hindustan Times. The minister indicated the concerned platforms could be held liable if they fail to proactively address harmful or misleading content, flagging the alleged growing misuse of artificial intelligence to generate synthetic content without proper consent.

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“Synthetic content should not be generated without the consent of the person whose face, voice or personality has been used to create the content. Time has come to make that big inflectional change,” said Vaishnaw.

Global revenue tensions

The remarks come against the backdrop of mounting tensions worldwide between artificial intelligence platforms and media organisations over the issue of revenue distribution, particularly as AI companies rely on news content to increase user engagement and advertising returns.

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Recognising the sweeping changes ushered in by artificial intelligence and digital dissemination, the minister maintained that technological progress should not undermine the long-term viability of publishers.

Call for collaborative alignment

The DNPA Conclave 2026 convened policymakers, media executives and other industry stakeholders to deliberate on regulatory approaches, newsroom shifts and the financial dynamics of digital publishing in an ecosystem increasingly shaped by AI.

DNPA chairperson Mariam Mammen Mathew said collaboration between platforms, publishers and policymakers was essential at a time when AI is reshaping the foundations of news.

Vice-chairperson Puneet Gupta added that the future of digital journalism hinges on aligning innovation with sustainability and fair value exchange.