That's public service media such as the BBC, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The British government wants "trusted" news sources to be made more prominent on social media in plans that seem set to cause controversy with free speech advocates.In a Green Paper published Tuesday, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) laid out its aim to improve access to reliable news sources on online platforms.This is part of broader reforms to the UK's public service media system, intended both to ensure it continues to serve the British public and to support an eventual managed transition to internet-based TV.
DCMS observes in the report "Watch this Space: A new strategic direction for UK media" that there has been a shift in how people consume news. For 75 percent of young people aged 16-24, social media is their main source, while more than half of UK adults now include social media as one of the ways they get updates.
As Reg readers are well aware, while social networks provide access to a greater range of news sources, they are also a superb conduit for misinformation and disinformation, with "the potential for less accurate material to replace trustworthy sources as content is increasingly shaped by algorithms and AI."Because of this, the government is inviting feedback on its proposals. These would require social media companies and video-sharing platforms to make sure that news content from public service media (PSM), which includes the BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C, and Channel 5, plus other trustworthy providers, is "prominent and easy to find on their platforms."How this would be achieved is up for discussion. DCMS suggests that it could involve a range of national and local news publishers being given prominent placement in search results or recommendation feeds when people search for news. The government claims to be keeping an open mind on this, seeking views on whether it can be achieved voluntarily, whether all PSM content should be prominent, and which platforms ought to be in scope.The Green Paper says that PSM providers are held to higher regulatory standards than other content providers, and this in turn increases their costs. Historically, they were also more prominent to audiences, but "in a platform environment driven by algorithmic recommendations, media is frequently optimized for engagement rather than public value."The paper claims that the risk is stark, especially for young people, and that there is broad societal consensus that such audiences should have guaranteed access to "high-quality, safe and educational content." This is consistent with the government's recent actions to protect children online, it further claims.
