UK Government Moves to Put BBC First in Social Media News Feeds

The UK government published a Green Paper on 22 June 2026 that would require social media platforms and video sharing sites to make BBC, ITV and other public service broadcaster news content prominent and easy to find, the most concrete step yet in a policy that treats algorithmic news feeds as a piece of broadcasting infrastructure. The paper, titled Watch this Space: A new strategic direction for UK media, was published by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) the same day Sir Keir Starmer announced he would resign as Labour leader, leaving the policy’s political sponsor departing and the consultation period beginning under a successor yet to be chosen. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport declined to comment when the proposals were first reported by The Telegraph.

Green Papers are consultation documents, not draft laws, and no final decisions are understood to have been made. But the paper’s direction is unusually specific for a consultation: it names the platforms (YouTube, Facebook and TikTok), it names the broadcasters (the BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C, Channel 5, and “other trustworthy providers”), and it sketches the kind of prominence it has in mind. A national or local news publisher could become “more likely to be at the top of people’s social media feeds when they search for news”. The next move is a consultation expected in the coming weeks.

The Plan: Public Service Broadcasters First in Social Feeds

The Green Paper sets out options to require social media companies and video sharing platforms to make sure news content from public service media is prominent and easy to find on their services. It points to the BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5 as the in-scope broadcasters, and it says the same rules could pull in “a range of national and local news publishers”. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy framed the move in terms of an information environment that has moved faster than the rules that govern it.

“It is vital that we make sure that people have better access to trusted and accurate news and that our regulated public service media is seen and heard in the fierce battle against mis and disinformation,” Nandy said in a statement released with the paper. The wider Green Paper covers more than news feeds: it consults on a transition to internet-only TV distribution by 2034 or 2044, and on extending the Listed Events regime that keeps the World Cup, the Olympics and Wimbledon free to air into the streaming age. The prominence plan for social media is the section that has drawn the most attention, and the most opposition.

From Voluntary Pledges to Legislation

The Government’s stated first step is a soft one. DCMS Minister Ian Murray told journalists the administration would start by asking big tech to make the changes voluntarily, then move to regulation and legislation if it does not. Murray pointed to the Ofcom recommendations that the Green Paper is built on, and he opened the door to a broader definition of who counts as public service media.

“It might be the case that YouTube becomes a PSM in terms of some of its content,” Murray said, drawing a line not just around organisations but around individual pieces of content. He added: “This is, of course, not just about the BBC and ITV. This is also about local news and that local media ecosystem.” ITV chief executive Carolyn McCall endorsed the paper, saying public service broadcasters “underpin the wider creative economy” and that the Green Paper would help PSBs “continue to effectively serve the UK public interest”. The full consultation is expected within weeks, and the under-16 social media ban due from spring 2027 has set the political tone for the broader fight.

The Connected TV Precedent: First Nine Tiles

Rules of this kind are not new in the UK. The Media Act 2024 requires connected TV platforms, smart TVs and streaming sticks, to give prominence to public service on-demand services including BBC iPlayer and ITVX. The Act’s mechanics run through “Designated Internet Programme Services” (DIPS) and “Regulated Television Selection Services” (RTSS), with the PSBs obliged to offer their apps and the platforms obliged to carry them under a duty to give an “appropriate degree of prominence” (see the structure of the Media Act 2024’s prominence rules for connected TV for a legal explainer).

Ofcom opened a consultation in January 2026 on a draft code of practice for how the regime works in practice. The headline proposal is that the six designated PSB player apps should fill the first nine tiles of a connected TV menu, leaving three slots for everyone else, including the platform’s own app. In search results, the code says, public service content should be the most prominent result when it is the most relevant one. In primary content areas, PSB content must be given “no less prominence than non-PSB content” across the platform. Ofcom closed the consultation on 25 March 2026 and is expected to finalise the code later this year (see Ofcom’s draft code on connected TV platform prominence).

The Government’s own impact assessment for the Media Act acknowledged the trade-off. Giving priority to public service content could leave non-public service media, including commercial broadcasters, newspapers and independent creators, worse off, as their content “may suffer in terms of discoverability”.

Why the Pressure Is Building

The case the Government is making is an audience one. The places where British adults get their news have moved online, and the audience has moved faster than the rules.

Three statistics carry most of the weight. In December 2025, YouTube overtook the BBC on monthly audience reach for the first time, 51.9 million viewers against 50.8 million, though the BBC remained ahead on longer-viewing measures. Public service broadcasters’ video-on-demand players account for 9 per cent of all viewing, against 15 per cent for subscription services such as Netflix and 19 per cent for video-sharing platforms such as YouTube. Three-quarters of 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK mainly get their news through social media, and more than half of all UK adults name it as one of their main sources.

Ofcom’s July 2025 review of public service media put the regulatory response on the table. The report warned that “time is running out to save this pillar of UK culture and way of life” and set out a six-point plan whose first recommendation was greater prominence and discoverability for PSM content on third-party platforms. Ofcom said broadcasters should work “urgently” with YouTube on fair commercial terms, with a particular focus on news and children’s programming, and added that there was “a strong case for the Government to legislate” to make it happen. YouTube is watched by 43 per cent of UK children aged 4 to 17 on a weekly basis, and 34 per cent of time spent watching YouTube at home is now on a TV set, up from 29 per cent in 2022.

Ofcom’s second recommendation, on funding, called for additional public support for “socially valuable but commercially less viable genres, such as news, local news and children’s content”. The Green Paper is the Government’s response to that call, on the prominence side at least. The money side is still open.

• 51.9M vs 50.8M: YouTube vs BBC monthly audience reach, December 2025 (Barb)
• 9%: PSM on-demand share of all viewing (Ofcom Media Nations 2024)
• 15%: subscription services share of all viewing (Ofcom Media Nations 2024)
• 19%: video-sharing platforms share of all viewing (Ofcom Media Nations 2024)
• 43%: UK children aged 4 to 17 watching YouTube weekly (Ofcom July 2025 report)
• 75%: share of 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK mainly getting news from social media (Ofcom)

The Squeeze on Everyone Else

The political fight the Green Paper has not yet won is with the publishers it might crowd out. The News Media Association, which represents the UK’s national and regional news titles, welcomed the principle of prominence but warned that a regime built around public service broadcasters risks obscuring everyone else. Its chief executive, Theo Bamber, drew the line in a written response to the consultation.

Trusted journalism is the antidote to the growing problem of misinformation on social platforms, but any prominence regime must support the diverse media environment that we have in the UK, a key part of our democratic framework. So, while we support the government’s intentions in wanting to get people to access trusted news, the method they are proposing here risks obscuring the high-quality, agenda-setting journalism produced everyday by the UK’s independent news publishers and narrowing the range of trusted voices available to people across the country.

The NMA’s chairman, Lord Black of Brentwood, struck a similar note. “The government is right to highlight the growing problem of misinformation online,” he said, “but the solution must ensure that media diversity is protected, maintaining public access to diverse and plural sources of trusted information.” Demos, the think tank, framed the case for the other side. Azzurra Moores, the organisation’s associate director for information ecosystems, said extending prominence requirements to social media platforms “will be a critical step towards strengthening our information environment and building democratic resilience”.

The second-order effect is structural. If social platforms are told to lift PSB news to the top of feeds and search results, the slots just below them will go to whoever the algorithm surfaces next, and the room for independent publishers to be discovered through recommendation shrinks. The under-16 social media ban that prompted the same free-speech pushback is the policy fight that opened this regulatory turn; the prominence plan is where the structural fight lands next.

Tech Firms and Free-Speech Groups Push Back

The industry’s posture on the wider UK social media agenda gives a read on the prominence fight to come. Lord Young of Acton, the Conservative peer who founded the Free Speech Union, told The Telegraph: “The Prime Minister has apparently decided that censoring social media should be his legacy.” YouTube, responding to the under-16 ban announced earlier in June, warned that “blanket bans push kids out of such curated, supervised, beneficial experiences and towards anonymous, less-safe services”. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company shared “the goal of keeping teens safe online” but argued that “like others, we don’t think bans will achieve this goal”.

DCMS has so far kept the prominence plan in the consultation phase, and the press team declined to comment on the Telegraph’s first report. The Green Paper itself runs to options, not commitments: it asks whether prominence should be voluntary first, regulated second, and legislated third, and it leaves the definition of “trustworthy provider” open. A consultation is expected in the coming weeks, and a final decision on which direction to take will land in the hands of a successor to Starmer yet to be chosen by the Labour Party.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the UK government’s plan for BBC content on social media?

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport published a Green Paper titled Watch this Space: A new strategic direction for UK media on 22 June 2026. It sets out options to require social media and video sharing platforms to make news from public service media, the BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5, alongside “other trustworthy providers”, prominent and easy to find in feeds and search results.

Is the BBC prominence plan law yet?

No. The proposals sit in a Green Paper, which is a consultation document, and no final decisions are understood to have been made. The Government has said it will first ask big tech to make the changes voluntarily and could ultimately pursue regulation and legislation if the voluntary path does not produce results.

Which platforms and publishers would the rules cover?

The paper points at social media and video sharing platforms, naming YouTube, Facebook and TikTok in the wider consultation. On the publisher side, it lists the six designated public service broadcasters and signals that a “range of national and local news publishers” could also benefit. The Online Safety Act 2023’s definition of a “recognised news publisher” is being examined as a possible starting point.

Is there a precedent for prominence rules in the UK?

Yes, on connected TV. The Media Act 2024 already requires smart TV platforms and streaming sticks to give prominence to public service on-demand services. Ofcom’s January 2026 draft code proposes that the six PSB player apps fill the first nine tiles of a connected TV menu, leaving three slots for everyone else.

Why is the UK government acting now?

Ofcom’s July 2025 report warned that “time is running out” to protect public service media, and December 2025 Barb data showed YouTube had overtaken the BBC on monthly reach for the first time, 51.9 million viewers against 50.8 million. The Government has also pointed to the share of 16- to 24-year-olds who now get most of their news through social media, three-quarters of the age group, and the risk of misinformation spreading through feeds governed by opaque algorithms.