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African Editors Draw a Line in the Sand: Demanding Fair Play from Tech Giants
The digital revolution has brought immense changes, but not all of them have been beneficial for the creators of quality content. This week, a powerful message emerged from Nairobi, Kenya, as Africa’s most senior media executives issued a firm demand: global technology companies must fairly compensate the continent’s newsrooms for the invaluable journalism that fuels their platforms, especially in the age of Artificial Intelligence.
Concluding a pivotal two-day working congress, the leaders of African media made it unequivocally clear. They gathered at the Africa Editors Congress (AEC) 2026, an influential event convened by The African Editors Forum (TAEF), to address the escalating issue of tech giants profiting from African journalism without adequate remuneration. The core of their argument is straightforward: if your algorithms and AI models are learning from, summarizing, and distributing our hard-earned reporting, then our newsrooms deserve a fair share of the revenue generated.
This isn’t a new conversation globally, but it takes on particular significance for African media, which often operates with fewer resources yet produces vital, context-rich journalism. As AI technologies continue to advance, their reliance on vast datasets of human-created content — much of it journalistic — only grows. African editors are stepping up to ensure that their contributions are recognized and appropriately valued, advocating for the sustainability and future of independent journalism across the continent.
The demand from Nairobi is a call for a more equitable partnership between content creators and the platforms that distribute and profit from their work. It challenges the existing paradigm and pushes for a future where the foundational creators of information are justly rewarded, ensuring that quality African journalism can continue to thrive and inform.
Source: Original Article
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