A UJI study warns of the power of technology companies like Google and Facebook for their control of communication 



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## A UJI study warns of the power of technology companies like Google and Facebook for their control of communication The Universitat Jaume I and the University of the Basque Country analyse how Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft (GAFAM) hinder the development of traditional cultural and creative agents

26/11/2019 |
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A study carried out by the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) warns that the large technology companies Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft (GAFAM) are hindering the development of traditional cultural agents, as they have become "true masters of global digital communication". The conclusions of this work have been published in *Revista Latina de Comunicación Social*.

The study, carried out by the lecturers Jéssica Izquierdo Castillo, from the Department of Communication Sciences of the UJI, and Juan Carlos Miguel de Bustos, professor at the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), has described the seven characteristics of global technological industries and demonstrates their potential leadership in today's digital communication environment. "GAFAMs need to grow constantly, which makes them dependent on innovation", explains Miguel de Bustos.

Currently, GAFAMs, in the words of Jéssica Izquierdo, are also characterised "for focusing their businesses towards strategic growth vectors as fundamental as health and the Internet of Things, virtual assistants, household appliances, cities and intelligent cars, or applications for monitoring vital signs; they are inexhaustible sources of big data, which in turn constitute the DNA for these companies. The only aspect that the GAFAMs is not yet leading is that of telecommunications networks".

The large technological companies Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft lead the digital economy, strongly linked to the collection of data from users. "The growing global presence of streaming platforms such as Netflix, HBO or Spotify, make the media ecosystem a preferred place to collect these big data, which provide detailed information on the tastes, opinions and preferences of citizens for entertainment and information. Now, they are trying to do the same with emotions. They are the masters of everything, even of the distribution of the information", explains Miguel de Bustos.

For her part, the lecturer of the Department of Communication Sciences Jéssica Izquierdo comments that this reality "turns the media into a source of valuable and necessary information for the GAFAM, which already control a large part of this data through YouTube (Google), Twitter (Facebook), Amazon Prime, Apple Music or LinkedIn (Microsoft)".

The research carried out by Jéssica Izquierdo Castillo and Juan Carlos Miguel de Bustos provides a complete analysis of the GAFAM Internet groups, which makes it possible to assess the impact that these groups have on the media. Based on a broad bibliographic base, specialised press and corporate and institutional reports, the growth of the connection between GAFAMs and media content is analysed, as well as their capacity to establish patterns that condition the future development of the creative and cultural industries in the scenario of the digital economy.

The results allow to observe the central position that the GAFAMs occupy in the digital economy, and point out the keys of development for the media industries in this ecosystem, such as the intensification of traditional groups on the Internet (which explains movements such as Disney's launching of its own platform), the increase of the GAFAMs in the media areas or the threat to cultural diversity and pluralism in the global communication market.

Jéssica Izquierdo Castillo is a tenured lecturer in the Department of Communication Sciences at the Universitat Jaume I. She directs the research group “Observatorio de Contenidos y Plataformas Mediáticas” (OBCOP), whose main lines of work are linked to the study of the media ecosystem in the era of digital convergence, in reference to its structure and contents. She is also associate editor of the scientific journal *adComunica*. She teaches on the structure of the communicative system and the programming of media contents at the UJI, and has been guest lecturer at universities in different countries. Her main lines of research focus on the evolution of media structures, transformations in business models and public television.

Juan Carlos Miguel de Bustos is a professor at the University of the Basque Country, where he teaches the economic aspects of cultural industries (Structure of the Communicative System). He participates in doctoral courses in different departments of the UPV/EHU. He is a guest lecturer in different countries, in doctoral and master's courses. His publications and research are related to the analysis of structural changes in communication groups and public television. For several years, he has been researching on GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft): competition, privacy and content.

J.C. Miguel de Bustos, J. Izquierdo-Castillo (2019): «¿Quién controlará la comunicación? El impacto de los GAFAM sobre las industrias mediáticas en el entorno de la economía digital». *Revista Latina de Comunicación Social*, 74, pp. 803 a 821.<http://www.revistalatinacs.org/074paper/1358/41es.html>  
DOI: [10.4185/RLCS-2019-1358](http://dx.doi.org/10.4185/RLCS-2019-1358)

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