Marano: «Le Big Tech restituiscano agli editori la ricchezza che prelevano»

Antonio Marano, president of Confindustria Radio Televisioni, has called for Big Tech companies to return wealth to publishers, warning that the current concentration of power in the hands of these digital giants is unsustainable. Marano argues that the big tech companies are profiting from content creation without providing fair compensation to the journalists, authors, producers, and other individuals whose work is used.

He emphasizes that the power is shifting from national governments to these tech behemoths, who control technology, data, computational abilities, and access to the public.

The problem is not just about a shift in technology, but a "suprematismo tecnologico" that is not being regulated. According to Marano, around three-quarters of the total advertising investments in Europe are now concentrated in the internet market, and for radio-television alone, the market was worth €7.5 billion in 2025, down from nearly €9.7 billion in 2011. He believes that the use of artificial intelligence can accelerate the depletion of content creators' value.

Marano has proposed that the use of content by AI should be authorized beforehand, and the burden of proof should be on the developers of AI to demonstrate their right to use those contents. He is calling for a consensus with Confindustria Cultura Italia and Fieg on this matter. The economic impact of this shift is also significant, and Marano insists that a portion of the value collected by Big Tech in the Italian market must be returned to traditional media such as newspapers, radio, TV, and publishing.

While the "equo compenso" for journalistic publications, established by Agcom, is a step forward, Marano believes it is merely a "tip of the iceberg" and the real issue is the need for proactive policy-making. He urges politicians to set principles and give Agcom, Antitrust, and other relevant authorities the power and resources to intervene quickly.

The ultimate goal, according to Marano, is to ensure the future of pluralism and democratic guarantees in the face of the unchecked advance of monopolistic entities and artificial intelligence.