Social media platforms and search engines like Facebook and Google have had an "appalling" influence on the media landscape, said former magazine editor Tina Brown.

The media mogul spoke on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday and said she is in favor of an "industry-wide pressure" for the companies to "give back something" and "fund real journalism."

"One of the great big scams of digital platforms is that they're able to kind of pretend that they care about the human good, while at the same time taking all the profits and all the revenue from people who are actually doing the work," said Brown, who is also the former editor of publications like Vanity Fair, The Daily Beast and The New Yorker.

"They use all that great work on their platforms and don't give anything back," she said. "It's been a great scam. I'm glad they made out like bandits, but I think it's time they're viewed in the manner they should be."