The government is preparing to force social media platforms to boost the presence of British news providers to counter misinformation, in a move likely to ruffle the feathers of big tech firms.
Ministers are preparing to consult on rules which would require platforms like YouTube and Meta to make UK news sites like the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 more prominent, City AM understands.
The move would be the government’s latest attempt to crack down on US-owned social media giants, after Sir Keir Starmer unveiled a ban on 16 year-olds using the platforms earlier this week.
Existing “prominence rules” ensure that public service broadcasters occupy the most accessible channel listings on televisions, for example so that the BBC News can always be found on the first channel.
But the government is considering widening these prominence rules to apply to social media platforms.
The new rules, which are being set out as part of a new green paper, would act to address concerns that trusted British news is being buried by foreign algorithms on social media sites.
Ministers would use the new powers to tackle the rise of misinformation on social media, where many young people now consume most of their news.
Misinformation ‘abounds’
Tech companies are strongly opposed to prominence rules, the Financial Times has reported, because they oppose regulation which counters their own audience-driven algorithms.
“If [the government] wants a proper fight, prominence is the way to go about it,” one person at a leading social media platform told the FT.
It is understood that the government would first invite platforms to sign up to these new rules, with legislation being considered as a back-up option.
Last week, a report published by Demos, a cross-party think tank, urged the government to apply prominence rules to social media platforms to “safeguard citizen access to public interest news”.
“In the platform environment, incorrect, misleading, and inflammatory content abounds, while accurate and reliable news sources face declining visibility,” the report found.
On Monday, the Prime Minister announced a ban on under-16s using social media, arguing that these platforms are harming children’s wellbeing and fuelling a generation of unhealthy online habits.
But the ban was met with furious opposition from big tech leaders, as Keir Starmer was condemned by executives at X, Meta and YouTube.
Elon Musk, whose social media platform X will be affected by the ban, branded Britain a “police state,” while other firms warned that the new law would push children to less safe sites.
The Department of Media, Culture and Sport was contacted for comment.