UK government ‘will act’ to ensure online prominence for BBC, says Lisa Nandy

UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy has backed the BBC’s plans to create a sovereign streaming platform and says the government will “take action” to ensure online prominence in the face of opposition from YouTube and the US government.

Lisa Nandy

In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s The Media Show, Nandy endorsed BBC director-general Matt Brittin’s ambition to open up the UK pubcaster’s iPlayer VoD platform to user-generated content using a public service algorithm, free from the influence of US Big Tech.

Brittin outlined ideas for a new and improved “iPlayer 2.0” at last month’s Edinburgh TV Festival (ETVF), admitting the current version of the service had fallen behind global competitors.

Nandy, the UK’s Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, told The Media Show reporter Katie Razzall she believes a BBC-led sovereign super streamer would help ensure Brits can access reliable news content.

“This is exactly the space that the BBC and public service broadcasters should be in,” she said. “There are various parts of the media ecosystem that are still well trusted and sought out by the public in an era of mis- and disinformation where it’s very hard to know what is fact or fiction, what is a view or polemic and what is news. I think the government has a role to play in helping with that.

“If it’s possible to design an algorithm that can make money then it’s possible to design one that can actually help people find and receive good quality, trusted news.

“If we have to take action as a government in order to make that [happen], of course we will. In the end, our first responsibility is to people in this country who need to be able to find trusted sources of news.”

Brittin’s plans for a UK sovereign streamer that leverages a public service algorithm have already raised eyebrows.

At ETVF, Pedro Pina, YouTube’s VP and head of EMEA, pushed back on what he characterised as a familiar narrative in which foreign tech platforms are blamed for luring viewers away from British television with low-quality content.

He also criticised proposals in the UK government’s Media Green Paper for “forced prominence” rules for public service broadcasters on platforms such as YouTube. Such rules, he warned, would “impair the public interest, by unfairly shifting focus from independent creators and production companies, and by recommending all our viewers watch the same things, disregarding personal taste.”

Donald Trump’s US administration has raised “serious concerns” about Downing Street’s plans, warning that any such legislation would risk “facilitating censorship.”

However, Nandy said such high-profile opposition would not deter the Labour government from prioritising the UK’s own interests.

“Look, the US government is entitled to take their own view and control how they set the parameters of the media environment within their own country,” she said. “But we’re the British government and we are entitled to take a view on behalf of the British people.

“I take a different view [to Pedro Pina] and think that people need to be able to find sources of news that they trust. I would much prefer that we were able to work with the companies [like YouTube] to get to a place where we could do this quickly, but if we have to intervene as a government we will. We’re not neutral about that.”