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On 1 May 2017, the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee published its report concerning how social media companies, including YouTube, Google, and Twitter, were policing their sites and taking suitable action to remove illegal content that constituted a hate crime. The Committee concluded that overall the social media companies were “shamefully far” from tackling illegal and dangerous content. The Committee recommended that the Government consult on stronger laws and a system of fines for companies failing to remove illegal content. The Committee’s enquiry was announced in July 2016 following...

Karen Bradley, government minister serving as Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, has announced that after an 18-month review, public service broadcaster (PSB) Channel 4 will not be privatised and will remain in public ownership. The terrestrial channel was launched in 1982 to provide greater diversity and appealing to tastes and interests not normally catered by the other independent terrestrial channel ITV, launched in 1955. Both ITV and Channel 4 are funded primarily through advertising, and in the case of Channel 4 profits are reinvested into programme making. Channel 4 has helped...

On 24 April 2017, Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, issued a Note to broadcasters on election programming for the General Election taking place on 8 June 2017. It follows Ofcom’s statement in 9 March 2017 that it had amended its rules relating to coverage of elections with new rules in relation to party broadcasts and rules applying to the BBC for the first time (see IRIS 2017-5/6). The Note reminds broadcasters that Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code requires that the coverage of elections and referendums complies with rules requiring due impartiality and a number of other special provisions. In...

On 6 March 2017, Ofcom determined that Fox News, a USA news channel and broadcast as a digital satellite channel, had breached Rules 9.4 and 9.5 of Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code by allowing advertising material or promotional material to be screened as if editorial content. During its Hannity show on 5 and 6 August 2016, Fox News broadcast short segments each lasting about two minutes entitled Fox Extra. These segments covered various subjects including cooking, health, technology, and travel, as well as guest interviews. On 5 August, a health section lasting about two minutes comprised of an extract...

On 3 April 2017, pursuant to The Royal Charter for the Continuance of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Royal Charter (the “Charter”) the communications regulator Ofcom will regulate the BBC, succeeding the role previously undertaken by the BBC Trust. Ofcom will be the first external and independent regulator of the BBC. The Charter took effect on 1 January 2017 and expires on 31 December 2027. Prior to 3 April 2017, the BBC was already subject to certain Ofcom regulation, such as that concerning the protection of children, hatred and abuse, religion, and fairness issues. However, as from...