UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has announced plans to expand the scope of the UK’s media merger regime, updating it so that the digital age reflects modern news consumption habits and better protects freedom and plurality. of the media.

The plans will allow for greater public interest scrutiny of deals to buy UK online news magazines and publications that could negatively impact accurate information, freedom of expression and media plurality; expand the reach of the regime beyond television, radio and print newspapers as it currently stands.

Currently, the media merger regime established in the Companies Act 2002 allows the Culture Secretary to intervene in mergers and acquisitions of broadcasters (defined as services requiring a license under the Broadcasting Act 1996) as well as print newspapers. UK daily and Sunday newspapers, and Local Newspapers, circulating mainly in the UK.

The media landscape has changed significantly since the Companies Act became law more than two decades ago. To reflect the way news is increasingly consumed online and the need to protect press freedom as a cornerstone of democracy, the Culture Secretary today launched a consultation seeking views on expanding the regime’s reach of media mergers to include online news publications and weekly or monthly print news publications.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Since the media merger regime came into force more than twenty years ago, our laws have not kept pace with technology and evolving news consumption habits.

“As people get more and more news online, we need a future-proof regime. “That is why I propose further reforms to protect the availability of accurate, high-quality news from a variety of sources, ensuring that press freedom continues to be defended.”

Mergers involving companies that own UK-connected online news publications, for example online-only news providers such as HuffPost either the independentor the online arms of print publications, would now be within the scope of the media merger regime. This would mean that the Culture Secretary has the ability to intervene in a merger that meets certain conditions relating to turnover or participation in supply, where he believes that a public interest consideration may be relevant. According to Ofcom’s annual report on UK news consumption, almost a quarter of UK adults (22 per cent) access their news through print newspapers, a figure that rises to 34 per cent when including their online platforms.

The consultation also proposes including news publications that circulate weekly or monthly, such as The Economist or Prospect, in the scope of the scheme to ensure the legislation is fit for purpose and accurately reflects how people consume news; Daily, local and Sunday publications are already included.

The measures would ensure that the public interest in these popular sources of news content can be safeguarded for people across the UK. It would allow the Culture Secretary to intervene where necessary to protect the availability of a wide range of high-quality, accurate news, particularly for younger audiences as technology and news habits evolve.

Pending the conclusion of the consultation, the proposed changes to the Companies Act will be made through secondary legislation. The proposed inclusion of online news sites will apply to both the public interest media merger regime and the new foreign state influence regime. The powers would not apply retrospectively to historical transactions.

The proposed reforms ensure a proportionate approach that reflects the way modern news is consumed, without putting undue pressure on businesses. They follow advice the Department for Culture, Media and Sport received from independent regulator Ofcom as part of its statutory review of the operation of media ownership rules, and do not involve any regulation of a media outlet’s editorial content.

The UK has a strong record of encouraging investment, which has been instrumental in the growth of the media and creative industries more generally, and this pro-growth government will continue that trend, protecting freedom of expression and providing a framework solid that encourages media plurality.