A clear majority of the public back sweeping reforms to the ownership of Britain’s newspapers and broadcasters, according to a new poll that suggests concerns over who controls the UK’s media now extend across the political spectrum.
The YouGov survey, commissioned by the Media Sovereignty Act Campaign, found that 63 per cent of people support banning foreign based individuals and companies from owning UK media organisations.
The same proportion also support preventing any one individual or company from owning more than one national newspaper or broadcast corporation, while 72 per cent back the creation of an independent media regulator.
Support for change was found across the political divide, with majorities among Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Reform UK voters, as well as among both Leave and Remain supporters.
Campaigners say the findings reflect growing public concern over the concentration of media ownership in the hands of a small number of wealthy individuals, many of whom live outside the United Kingdom.
Media Sovereignty Act Campaign director Caspar Hughes said:
“It’s clear that ordinary people recognise the immense harm and suffering caused by the billionaire-owned press.
“From Brexit to the climate crisis to Gaza, the boot print of foreign-owned media is absolutely clear.
“To have a free and fair democracy, media ownership must be spread across all sections of society, not just the 0.0001%.
“It is time for us to take back control.”
The campaign is calling for a new Media Sovereignty Act that would restrict ownership of national media organisations to UK based individuals or companies owned by UK based shareholders.
It also proposes preventing any single organisation from owning more than one national newspaper or commercial national broadcaster, while limiting any individual or family to a maximum 20 per cent shareholding in a major UK media organisation.
If introduced, the proposals would have significant implications for some of the country’s largest media groups, including those owned by the Murdoch family and Viscount Rothermere.
The proposed legislation would also establish an independent statutory media regulator, introduce a levy on social media companies to help fund independent and local journalism, and require think tanks involved in public policy to disclose their funding in real time.
Campaign director Donnachadh McCarthy said:
“For Britain to be truly sovereign, our media must be owned by people who live and vote in Britain.
“We cannot continue to be dictated to by out-of-touch, tax-dodging billionaires who don’t even live in the UK.
“They use their control of the media to force our politicians to act against the interests of the British people.
“It is time to end foreign billionaire capture of our national debate and our democracy”.
Sir Jonathon Porritt CBE said:
“A free people depends on a free press, which we do not have in the UK.
“Today’s billionaire elite has seized control of much of the media that people rely on, protecting their own, undermining democracy, corrupting the truth and defending the fossil fuel incumbency even as the world burns.
“Progress in addressing these crises depends absolutely on restoring media sovereignty.”
The debate comes at a time when independent and locally owned publishers continue to provide communities with an alternative to large national media groups, ensuring readers have access to a wider range of voices and perspectives.
The Media Sovereignty Act Campaign has launched a Parliamentary petition calling for a debate on billionaire ownership of the UK’s media, with 100,000 signatures required for the issue to be considered for debate in Parliament.
