Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (): This Government is committed
to a pluralistic media landscape, where citizens are able to
access information from a range of sources in order to form
opinions. The public's ability to access a wide range of news,
views and information about the world in which we live is central
to the health of our democracy.
I am therefore today publishing two separate, but related
consultation responses concerning important reforms to the media
merger regimes to reflect the changing ways in which people are
consuming news and which will secure the DCMS Secretary of
State's powers to safeguard plural and thriving British press and
broadcasting sectors.
(1) - Exceptions to the FSI regime
The purchase of UK news organisations by foreign states runs the
risk of eroding trust in the press and in other news media
organisations. It is essential that foreign states are not able
to control or influence UK news publications and that we have
strong measures in place in order to protect UK news publications
from undue influence by foreign states.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act 2024
amended the Enterprise Act 2002 to create a new foreign state
influence regime for UK newspapers and periodical news magazines.
As permitted by the Act, the Government now intends to introduce
a number of exceptions to the regime via regulations, which are
intended to offset potential negative impacts on inward
investment into this sector without undermining the core
principles of the FSI regime.
The previous Government launched a consultation on targeted and
specific exceptions to the regime, which closed on 9 July 2024.
We have carefully considered the consultation responses received,
including those made by newspaper groups affected by the new
regime. In setting out our response to the issues raised during
the consultation, we have balanced the need to ensure strong
measures are in place, while acknowledging the legitimate
concerns raised by respondents. In response to stakeholder
feedback, we have decided to set the threshold for State Owned
Investors' investment to 15% of shares or voting rights in a
newspaper or news magazine. This will simplify the regime and
provide more flexibility for newspaper groups seeking investment
from SOIs where control or influence over the policy of the
newspaper is less likely to be a risk.
Our policy intention is to ensure that state owned investment
vehicles, where they do invest, could not have influence over the
business of a UK newspaper. We want to ensure that the measures
brought in through secondary legislation are proportionate, and
support routes for legitimate investment and growth while
safeguarding UK newspapers from foreign state influence.
The draft statutory instrument making changes to the FSI regime
has been laid in Parliament today.
(2) - Extending media merger regimes to include online news and
other news media
The Enterprise Act 2002 contains provisions that allow the
Secretary of State to intervene in mergers involving print
newspaper enterprises and broadcasting enterprises which raise
public interest considerations specified in the Act. Grounds for
intervention are assessed against these public interest
considerations.
DCMS ran a technical consultation between 6 November 2024 and 13
January 2025, on proposals to expand the scope of the media
mergers regime from print newspapers and broadcasters to
encompass online news platforms and periodical news magazines,
and to extend the application of the media public interest
considerations. These proposals followed advice from Ofcom as
part of its 2021 Statement on the Future of Media Plurality.
Having taken into account views from industry, Parliament, and
the public, the Government has chosen to move forward with the
policy and the drafting of the definitions as outlined in the
original consultation. We consider that our changes balance the
need to protect the public interest in a digital age with our
responsibility to support a competitive and sustainable media
environment. The statutory instruments making changes to extend
the media merger regime to online news and other news media will
be laid in Parliament shortly.
The exceptions to the FSI regime will apply with retrospective
effect from 13 March 2024, to align with the date on which the
wider regime came into effect.
The amendments to the definition of newspaper for the FSI regime
will also apply retrospectively with effect from today's date.
This will mean that the Secretary of State must intervene in any
merger involving an online news enterprise, which completes on or
after the date of this announcement or in any anticipated merger
which is progress or in contemplation on or after this date, if
she has reasonable grounds to suspect a foreign state has, or may
acquire, control or influence over the policy of a UK newspaper
enterprise.
