A call for global leaders to urgently reform the online advertising market – to support democracy
The M20 Johannesburg Declaration was a result of a collaborative global discussion in 2025 that set a foundation for information-sharing to ensure that the G20 integrates information integrity, press freedom and media sustainability into a broader development financing architecture.
The M20 declaration calls on heads of state to recognise that journalism is a public good and that they need to commit to measures that enhance information integrity and safeguard independent, viable journalism.
The M20 declaration recognises that the collapse of journalism revenue models is not solvable by innovation alone. It is symptomatic of broader market failure and disruption due to platform dominance, unchecked data extraction and algorithmic bias, which require policy responses.
In terms of sustainability specifically, the M20 calls on leaders to commit to the “creation of public funding models for journalism, comparable to those that support other public goods, while ensuring strong guarantees of editorial independence and universal access to reliable information. Supporting media viability in this way is not optional — it is foundational to the health of our democracies and economies.”
Speaking directly to these recommendations, the Forum on Information & Democracy (FID) has published a new policy brief that provides a clear roadmap for governments to urgently establish a fair, transparent, accountable advertising market. It argues that leaders have a “direct responsibility” in ensuring these conditions are established in order to support journalism and democracy.
It first outlines the structural flaws in the online advertising market that have promoted disinformation, hate and fraud, instead of public interest journalism and advertisers’ interests.
Despite innovations by the media, structural advantages have made it difficult for many initiatives to achieve long-term financial sustainability. These advantages include: Big Tech positioning its products as more efficient and effective; the scale required for publishers to generate meaningful returns from programmatic advertising; and persistent gaps in technical and business expertise among small and independent news organisations.
- The FID has been a key partner in M20 processes and was a contributor and signatory to the Johannesburg Declaration in 2025. FID’s Katharina Zuegel was also lead writer of an M20 policy brief on Information integrity, climate change and the role of the G20, in the buildup to the inaugural M20 summit in September 2025, which culminated in the finalisation of the Johannesburg Declaration, which has 66 signatories to date. If you wish to sign the declaration, send an email to [email protected].
Read the FID’s policy brief, Ads for News, News for Ads, below:
