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Written question asked by James McMurdock (Independent (affiliation)) on Thursday, 9 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 July 2026. It was answered by Ian Murray (Labour) on Thursday, 16 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Public Service Broadcasting: Digital Broadcasting

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the impact of proposals to require digital platforms to give greater prominence to public service broadcaster content on the visibility of independent content creators.

Answer

The Media Green Paper, Watch this Space, sets out how we will ensure Public Service Media content is prominent where audiences are watching TV, including on third party platforms. The Government's preference remains for industry-led, voluntary agreements to achieve increased prominence in a sustainable and robust way that benefits all parties.

The Department has held a series of roundtables with the public service media providers and video sharing platforms to encourage industry led voluntary partnerships ensuring public service media content is made prominent and on fair terms. The Green Paper sets out that prominence should be outcomes-based, giving platforms the flexibility to deliver the objectives in a way that works for their platform, whether through recommendation algorithms or other means.

With regards to freedom of speech, at present social media companies, rather than the public, have the control over what content is made visible to users - we want to ensure that trustworthy news is not crowded out. There is no intention to restrict or censor content.

We are currently consulting on the proposals in the Green Paper, and stakeholder input including from independent content creators, will directly inform the Government’s next steps.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
17683
Session
2026-27
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Digital broadcasting Public service broadcasting
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk