Sir Keir Starmer is set to launch a consultation on forcing social media platforms to algorithmically prioritise BBC, ITV and Channel 4 content in the name of fighting disinformation. The move has drawn immediate criticism given a string of recent BBC scandals, including allegations that Panorama doctored a Trump speech and that the corporation has applied double standards in its coverage of the israel-Gaza conflict. The Telegraph has the story:
Sir Keir Starmer wants to force social networks and video platforms to make BBC content more prominent.
Under plans to further restrict private media firms, news from public service broadcasters would be given priority to fight “disinformation”.
The proposals will set Sir Keir on a collision course with tech giants already frustrated by his under-16s social media ban.
The Government is expected to start a consultation this week on the rules, which would force platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to boost content from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
Sources at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the rules would make it easier for Britons to “discover trusted news sources” online.
Three-quarters of young people aged 16-24 mainly consume news through social media, Ofcom figures show, and more than half of all British adults list social media as one of their main news sources.
Sir Keir’s administration believes that this increases the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
Government sources fear that trustworthy news outlets are increasingly undermined by the growth of content promoted by algorithms and sometimes generated by artificial intelligence.
The proposals to prioritise the BBC will draw criticism because of a number of recent high-profile scandals involving the national broadcaster.
A memo published by the Telegraph last autumn included evidence that BBC Panorama had “doctored” a speech by Donald Trump to make it appear he had directly called for violence on the day that his supporters stormed the US Capitol.
This has prompted Mr Trump to sue the BBC, demanding $10bn (£7.5bn) in damages.
The dossier also highlighted serious problems with BBC Arabic’s reporting on Gaza, in which it apparently gave extensive space to the views of Hamas.
Further concerns included a unit of rogue LGBT+ reporters censoring coverage of the trans debate, and a “thoroughly wrong” report that suggested car insurers were racist.
This week, the BBC was accused by campaigners of double standards for sacking a presenter who had criticised its coverage of Hamas, but not dismissing reporters who had appeared to justify or celebrate the attacks on Israel on Oct 7th, 2023.
The move to prioritise public service news comes after social media companies led a backlash against the Australian-style ban for under-16s that Labour announced at the start of last week.
Millions of children face being removed as early as next spring from platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, warned that the measure would drive children towards harmful, unregulated content, including the dark web.
A YouTube source suggested that the ban could lead to children using YouTube without signing in, which would remove parental oversight and offer teenagers fewer protections.
Lord Young of Acton, the Tory peer who founded the Free Speech Union, said: “The Prime Minister has apparently decided that censoring social media should be his legacy, which is a bit weird for a human rights lawyer.
“My theory is he wants to return to practising law and hopes to be hired by Elon Musk as an expert in social media regulation.”
Worth reading in full.
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The Totalitarian Tip Toe!
* The On-line Harms Act “to protect children”: 1000s of adults arrested for “wrong speech” online.
* BBC “Disinformation Commissioner” Marianna Spring – lies about her own disinformated CV (US: resume).
* BBC “Verify” to ALWAYS show the government is correct.
* Digital ID proposals.
* Identify yourself to use YouTube and other media “to protect the children”.
*Outlaw VPNs.
And now this. Force Google, YouTube to bring MSM propaganda and lies to the top of search pages.
Remember, it is not just the Labour totalitarians. None of the other mainstream parties have objected to any of this, and it was the Conservative Party under smoothie bankster Rishi Sunak who passed the “Online Harms” tyranny.
Following the totalitarian China model……… President Xi, UK/Europe is closing in on you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBfoAn2WrX8&t=3s
Full documentary on Bitchute:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/yawsEQfuyjwT
(UK users will need a VPN- eg Opera browsers built-in VPN – to access Bitchute.com)
So the disinformation centre wants to get their disinformation and bias front and centre. Disgraceful. Do they not realise how stupid it makes them look to anyone with half a brain?!
And there was I naively hoping the compulsory licence fee would be dropped and the BBC turned into a subscription channel at the next review. But no, I guess an increased licence fee will be the result. But at least it will be transparent that it is the propaganda art of the government. And what’s their latest propaganda slogan, ‘The hunt for the truth is on!’ 😁
Could the social media providers not just de platform politicians who have worked against them ? It appears the banks can do that with individuals whose politics they have been leaned on to de bank.
They can feel the narrative slipping away, as more people are noticing. In the end they can put what they want on the BBC and it won’t matter.
Is there currently much BBC content on Youtube? I must have missed it. Maybe this is part of a scheme to make the TV Licence compulsory for watching Youtube
Channel 4 – “trusted news source” 🤣
I would like to hear what others think but recently I have taken to using Grok to search for stuff as opposed to a search engine as the results are better and of course you can tell it to ignore Far Left shit like BBC, Sky, Guardian etc.
I’ve used Grokipedia and it’s more balanced than Wikipedia
The move has drawn immediate criticism given a string of recent BBC scandals, including allegations that Panorama doctored a Trump speech and that the corporation has applied double standards in its coverage of the israel-Gaza conflict.
Allegations??? The foreigner who is BBC Chairman has already admitted that they doctored the Trump speech but has tried to say it was not malicious – the Florida court will rule on that in February. Neither is there any doubt that the BBC support the Hamas terrorists and hates Jews.
I no longer regard al-Beeb as a trusted news source and have not done so for many years, neither do I consider Sly and all the rest of the MSM news channels to be in any way reliable or trustworthy, ditto the dead tree press. Far from increasing consumption of mainstream outlets this will only increase alternative news consumption and that has to be good. If it’s mainstream it’s government and that means propaganda so I’m not really interested.
“Government sources fear that trustworthy news outlets are increasingly undermined by…”
😀😀😀
..the Truth.
Is that true- or did you hear it on the BBC?
The BBC is one of the worst offenders of lies, propaganda and censorship as it is censoring all comments that try to tell the truth about the conflict in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Any posts that give the “real” reasons why Russia entered Ukraine are being suppressed as is the truth of what is happening now.
So much for “freedom of speech”.
Other issues are also being censored by the BBC if it goes against their “establishment” views.
I have detailed the BBC censorship on my short blog.
https://classicrecords1.wixsite.com/the-sceptic/post/replies-to-bbc-news-are-heavily-censored
You soon won’t be able to make up new Facebook names as you will have to give your Blair national ID and the systems will “recognise ” you. Let’s debank you as well for your timerity.
This is a shocking proposal and I hope Big Media refuse to comply.
A recent example of BBC lying (by omission) is that a query on BBC News.com on “Tulsi Gabbard” comes up with nothing on her bombshell revelation of a couple of days ago of a huge dossier of evidence on Dr Fauci malfeasances during Covid, reported on X here: https://x.com/DNIGabbard/status/2067792184753938484?s=46.
Not just the evidence that Fauci lied to Congress for which he should be locked away for a long time, but also all the bioweapons labs in Ukraine we were told by the Far Left legacy media that did not exist.
I check the bbc website daily to see what they are reporting but, more importantly, to see what they are not reporting.
Is that a form of lying by omission?
I’m not religious but it really is a case of “those that the gods would destroy they first make mad”. I suppose that they have actually made themselves gods and thus are destroying themselves.
Time for ‘Great Burnham Wood’ to come to No 10 Dunces Lane.
“If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well / It were done quickly”
You do realise burnham will be no better, don’t you?
Just two cheeks of the same socialist arse.
He and Miliband are totally out control!
and he talks about the right being fascist
Link to the British Broadcasting Commentariat interview from which the image originated…
https://youtu.be/XqJKAnN0-gM?t=172
…Musk: “You just lied.”
Precisely, well spotted, I remember that interview,
It’s hard to think of a more misleading and untruthful media body than the BBC. I had already stopped watching their news pre-Covid, but was shocked by just how awful their content was when I accidentally tuned in a couple of times.
Doesn’t that kind of prove that the BBC is the State’s pet broadcaster?
Has he not higher priorities than trying to move his propaganda up the social media rankings?
BBC is THE source of misinformation. Gave up watching and listening 15 years ago. And they were pumping out misleading information decades before that.
. .und tomorrow ze vorld…
🎶 Who do you think you are kiddin’ Mister Hitler…
“Force”… how? What will Mister Trump think?