UK media proposals raise fears over suppression of independent Palestine reporting

A new campaign is urging the British public to oppose government proposals that could give selected news organisations greater prominence on social media, warning that the measures risk pushing independent media further down users’ feeds.

NewsCord founder Nima Akram has launched the Say No to Media Censorship⁠ campaign in response to the government’s Green Paper on the future of British media.

“The government wants platforms to push state-approved news and bury the rest,” the campaign warns. It is encouraging members of the public to send formal responses to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) before its consultation closes on 31 August.

The campaign page allows users send a response to the consultation. NewsCord says the submissions are formal responses that DCMS must record.

The government published its Green Paper, Watch this space: a new strategic direction for UK media, in June. It proposes requiring social media companies and video-sharing platforms to make news from public service media, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and other providers regarded as trustworthy, more prominent and easier to find.

Under the proposals, selected news providers could appear more prominently when users search for news or in content presented to them on social media platforms. The government argues that the changes could help combat misinformation and ensure what it considers reliable journalism continues to reach audiences as more people get their news online.

The consultation does not propose banning independent publishers. However, critics are concerned about who decides which organisations qualify as “trustworthy” and what happens to outlets that fall outside that category.

Read: Over 600 media figures urge BBC to air shelved Gaza medics documentary⁠

The government has suggested that the definition of a “recognised news publisher” in the Online Safety Act could provide a starting point for deciding which organisations benefit from greater prominence, although no final criteria have been agreed.

The Independent Media Association (IMA) has warned that the proposal could disadvantage independent, regulated publishers. “We are disappointed that the green paper does not adequately address the needs of independent, regulated non-broadcast media” the IMA said.

“Our principal concern is the paper’s suggestion that the Online Safety Act’s definition of a recognised news publisher could serve as the starting point for determining which publishers benefit from prominence. That definition was designed for a different purpose and was never intended to distinguish genuinely trustworthy public-interest journalism from other news publishers. It requires publishers to have a standards code and complaints process, but not that those standards be independently enforced”.

The proposal comes as independent and alternative media have played a prominent role in challenging official British and Israeli narratives on Palestine, particularly since Israel launched its assault on Gaza in October 2023.

Independent outlets have regularly reported on Palestinian casualties, Israeli war crimes, Britain’s arms relationship with Israel, lobbying and the treatment of pro-Palestine activists, often giving greater prominence to issues and Palestinian voices that critics say receive less attention in mainstream coverage.

At the same time, major British news organisations, including the BBC, have faced sustained accusations of pro-Israel bias in their reporting on Gaza.

A 2024 report examined by MEMO found major disparities in British media coverage of Israel’s assault, including what researchers described as the dehumanisation of Palestinians, greater questioning of Palestinian casualty figures and a tendency to accept Israeli claims with less scrutiny.

The BBC has faced its own controversies over Palestine coverage. In March, a British court heard allegations that the broadcaster had imposed “legal and editorial restrictions” on journalists covering Israel’s war on Gaza and had misled audiences through some of its reporting. The BBC contested the claims.

The broadcaster also faced criticism after declining to air Gaza: Medics Under Fire. More than 600 media figures signed a letter in 2025 urging the BBC to broadcast the documentary, which examines attacks on Palestinian healthcare workers and hospitals.

BBC Arab journalists have also previously complained of an atmosphere in which criticism of Israel was subjected to heightened scrutiny. MEMO reported in 2024 that journalists at the corporation had raised concerns about investigations and disciplinary action over alleged anti-Semitism, with one source describing an “atmosphere of fear” surrounding criticism of Israel.

Critics of the Green Paper fear that giving major broadcasters greater prominence could have consequences on the coverage of Palestine. They see the proposal as another potential means of suppressing information and analysis that challenges the dominant political and media narrative on Israel.