Tue Sep 26, 2023 – 2:48 pm EDTTue Sep 26, 2023 – 2:49 pm EDT
(LifeSiteNews) — In a consultation paper published on September 20, the British government has announced it is preparing measures which will severely limit the freedom to post user-created video online.
The document urges the need to “protect audiences from harmful content” appearing in independently produced online video. Measures are proposed which threaten to regulate independent media out of existence, forcing the same regulatory compliance on individuals, citizen journalists, and small-scale operations as those of the media giants.
READ: UK passes Online Safety Bill, opening the way for ‘unprecedented, paradigm-shifting surveillance’
The government paper, which opens a consultation period due to close in November 2023, identifies a “clear regulatory gap within the existing statutory regime, which could result in inconsistent protections for audiences.”
In language which recalls the Online Safety Bill, which passed its last reading on September 19, the proposed Media Bill aims to reduce public exposure to “harmful” content – created by non-mainstream sources.
Death by regulation?
A report by one British-based independent news outlet framed the move as the elimination of online competition to the mainstream media.
UK Column’s Mike
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