Competition Commission: Final Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) report

Competition Commission: Final Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry (MDPMI) report

• 26 November 2025
• Miscellaneous
• South African Accounting Academy

Summary:

The Competition Commission has published a final report on the findings of an inquiry into South Africa’s media & digital platforms market, which began in March 2023. 

Article:

The final report is a culmination of 24 months of extensive evidence gathering, five rounds of information requests, public and in-camera hearings, expert submissions, consultations with industry stakeholders, a consumer survey, a focus group, and a provisional report process that enabled broader public input from media publishers, broadcasters, the digital platforms themselves, and academia.

It delivers a negotiated, enforceable funding package between the commission and Google; establishes enforceable remedies for Meta, TikTok, Microsoft, X and OpenAI; creates new commitments on YouTube; includes remedies on the SABC; and places a clear rights-based democratic framing at the centre of its analysis. .

The final report underscores how news media is essential for democracy, serving as the cornerstone of public accountability and informed citizens. Yet, the global transition to digital platforms has severely undermined traditional revenue models and has eroded the financial positions of news media. In South Africa, declining advertising income and the limited ability of audiences to pay for subscriptions have led to shrinking newsrooms, closed bureaus, and constrained reporting capacity. Meanwhile, digital platforms exacerbate these pressures by capturing audiences and monetisation opportunities that traditionally sustained news outlets.

The Inquiry found that major global platforms (Google, Meta, Microsoft, TikTok, X and AI companies such as OpenAI) dominate key gateways through which South Africans access information, namely search, social media, and AI-powered tools. In search, Google maintains a dominant position, where news represents 5-10% of queries and drives user engagement that is monetised through commercial advertising. 

In terms of social media, platforms such as Meta (Facebook, Instagram, and  WhatsApp), YouTube, X and TikTok play a massive role in distributing news to South Africans, particularly within community and vernacular audiences. 

The Inquiry also found that AI chatbots and large language models have scraped online news content without compensation, using it to train AI systems and generate responses to user queries. 

Access other relevant documents at https://www.compcom.co.za/final-report-launch/:

• 30-page Annexure 8: platform-specific remedial actions https://www.compcom.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CC_MDPMI-Final-Report_Non-Confidential_Annexure8_Remedial-Actions.pdf 
• 4-page media statement https://www.compcom.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/MDPMI-Releases-Final-Report-13-November-2025-2.pdf 
• Annexures 1 to 7 etc. https://www.compcom.co.za/final-report-launch/ 

Click here to download the 128-page full Report:

https://www.compcom.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/CC_MDPMI-Final-Report_Non-Confidential-1.pdf 

Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:

• The Competition Act is yet another piece of legislation that your clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with.  If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
• As an auditor, independent reviewer and accountant, you need to consider publications and legislation that affect your relevant clients, e.g. users of information/news and digital advertising.
• The news media plays a critical role in ensuring the right to freedom of expression and promoting democracy through informing citizens and holding institutions to account. It is also common cause that the news media in SA is in severe financial difficulty as the shift to online consumption has seen an erosion of the traditional advertising revenues, the main source of funding for the news media.
• As a citizen, you should be informed and aware of publications issued by regulators, e.g. Consumer Commission – especially as it affects your purchase and relevant rights relating to fresh produce.

Relevance to Your clients:

• An entity (company or close corporation) has a duty to comply with the Competition Act.
• The news media plays a critical role in ensuring the right to freedom of expression and promoting democracy through informing citizens and holding institutions to account. It is also common cause that the news media in SA is in severe financial difficulty as the shift to online consumption has seen an erosion of the traditional advertising revenues, the main source of funding for the news media.
• Citizens should be aware of informed and aware of publications issued by regulators, e.g. Consumer Commission.

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