Technology

U.K. Might Force Social Platforms To Give Government-Backed Media Special Status

Plus: The Democrats' Project 2029 would ban minors from social media, the Supreme Court protects private data in geofence warrant ruling, and more...

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 7.6.2026 11:35 AM

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While I was chowing down on fresh seafood and collecting beach rocks with my kids last week, busybodies on both sides of the Atlantic were scheming up ways to give the government more control over online speech and information. So for today's newsletter, I want to cover a few of those developments—plus one uncharacteristically good omen for tech users' civil liberties.

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Forcing Social Platforms To Center Government-Approved Media

Let's start with the bad. In the U.K., this included a proposal to force social media companies to prominently feature content from the BBC and other state-approved media. Authorities are calling it a way "to make it easier for people to discover trusted news sources on social media." But behind that noble-sounding rationale, it's just another attempt to control what people can read and watch online.

The idea—which at present is still just an idea, not a mandate—is to "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 5, and other trustworthy providers, is prominent and easy to find on their platforms." U.K. authorities are also considering ways to make sure their approved platforms are "prominent, discoverable and promoted wherever audiences are watching TV, including on third-party platforms, such as video sharing sites."

That could mean outlets approved and subsidized by the government would get top billing on social media, video sharing platforms, and streaming services, while independent media outlets and content creators would come second or be downgraded. U.K. authorities say this would help "tackle mis- and disinformation, particularly during times of social unrest or crisis," but it's better........

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