News aggregators will have one year to make sure that their foreign direct investment doesn't exceed 26%, the government said in a "clarification" issued on Friday. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade had last August announced a 26% FDI limit for digital media (which is the limit of foreign ownership that print media companies are subject to). But it did not clarify what digital media constituted. Now, this is what it has to offer: "The decision of permitting 26% FDI through Government route would apply to the following categories of Indian entities, registered or located in India: digital media entity streaming/uploading news and current affairs on websites, apps, or other platforms; news agency which gathers, writes and distributes/transmits news, directly or indirectly, to digital media entities and/or news aggregators; and news aggregator, being an entity which, using software or web application, aggregates news content from various sources, such as news websites, blogs, podcasts, video blogs, user submitted links, etc in one location." This clarification shows the 2019 policy change in its clearest light: a restriction on foreign funding for Indian news outlets. We have argued in the past that this is a restrictive policy that would inhibit Indian media from competing internationally. While the benefits to the government from a funding-starved news media is clear, there is also no clarity on who exactly asked for it in the first place. Uncertainty remains Even with this clarification, there remains uncertainty on who will be affected: for instance, are…
