This editorial coincides with the end of the second year and the beginning of the third year of the #RegulaciónConvergente Project. Thus, it is a good time to reflect on what has happened in this period and the challenges to come.
Our initial scenario has been changing at an accelerated pace. First of all, the communication system has become even more complex. This is mostly related to the boom and expansion of digital services.
We started our research by stating the existence of a technological convergence among audiovisual, telecommunications and the Internet, but we still lacked sufficient awareness, for instance, of the role that various digital services were taking in regard to regulation and governance.
At an institutional level, these services were not being addressed in depth. They began to be incorporated by the force of events, which also put a strain on the original institutional design ‑particularly in Latin American cases‑ because, in this respect, regulation no longer refers to concessions or contents but to services that are in turn connected with these other sectors through supply and also demand.
In this context, one of the discussions that reached our country is the conflict between Google and some media outlets due to the distribution of advertising resources. This year in Chile, we accumulated lawsuits by Copesa, El Mostrador and Radio Cooperativa at the Court for the Defense of Free Competition. The National Association of Television (ANATEL) declared it is also evaluating a lawsuit against Google.
All of this is happening in the midst of a deepening crisis of traditional media, which have financing as well as legitimacy issues while regional and local media are disappearing.
Therefore, this dispute is also an opportunity to raise the question of how to approach this relationship beyond specific cases and start thinking about common rules where the State can mediate so that the relationship with platforms guarantees the development and strengthening of media at a local level.
Additionally, new technological developments have consolidated that generate new layers of questions. One of them is generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its application in journalistic work. In recent months, we have witnessed its expansive use in newscasts or television shows to recreate information without necessarily clarifying its use. At this level, a discussion emerges regarding the role of each institution in providing guidelines or recommendations on how this resource will be used (or not) with journalism ethics.
Furthermore, there are processes that have accelerated and conflicts whose tension has increased. Companies linked to information technologies are at the center of the challenges and tensions taking place internationally today. Just remember the statements by Zuckerberg and Trump at the beginning of the year, precisely surrounding themselves with these American technology companies and even considering them part of the country’s geopolitical strategy while also claiming that regulations for these companies in Europe or Latin America constitute censorship.
In this scenario, this year’s challenge is to promote a more informed debate that also accounts for the complexity of convergence as a social and technological phenomenon. That is why we will be holding workshops, meetings, talks and activities to sound out the various stakeholders and sectors that are part of this discussion.
Not only in Santiago but also in other regions. Our aim is to involve different sectors in this conversation. This topic not only concerns regulators, television or telecommunications but also other institutions, for instance, from the cultural, educational or legislative sector.
In other words, how is this issue being understood in terms of its translation into a legal framework and a reconsideration of digital governance? What are some potential routes toward solving this not only in terms of the law but also in terms of co-regulation and/or self-regulation strategies?
In short, how can communication issues, which are structural issues, attract interest but also an understanding of the importance, seriousness and depth of the themes involved in this field?
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