A row is brewing over the Government’s apparent preference to appoint the notorious right wing newspaper editor Paul Dacre as Head of Broadcast Regulator Ofcom, with powers to police Independent & Social Media, and special exemptions for newspapers.

Dacre at Ofcom

This was published on Tuesday:

Prominent Anti-Press Regulation Editor Paul Dacre to run BBC & Social Media Regulator OFCOM?

Online Harms Bill designed to Kill Dissent

The attack on independent voices & media platforms is in full effect.

This section of the current Online Harms Bill exempts MSM from regulation on grounds of media freedom. But it leaves individuals and independent media vulnerable to attack. This amounts to gangland retribution from tax avoiding newspaper owning billionaires like Saudi-backed Evgeny Lebedev, Sun and Times owning Rupert Murdoch, and Mail owner Lord Rothermere.

The Landscape

Lots of new right wing parties have emerged in the last few years and now we have lots more right wing media coming – backed by Murdoch, Andrew Neil and Tory apparatchik Robbie Gibb. 

Deplatforming

Facebook announced last week that it is depoliticising its content and promoting small business instead.

Facebook will pay mainstream media outlets to distribute their propaganda.

This would make Facebook more like a shop – or a social credit rating agency – akin to Ali Baba in China.

There is a school of thought that All Data is Credit Data – as documented by Emily Rosamond.

Professor Beverley Skeggs carried out a project on Facebook in 2017:

Of course it won’t help small businesses that specialise in publishing political content!

FT Piece on proposals for Dacre to run Ofcom

Below the Line

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On Dacre’s possible appointment all a trusted high level former insider could say was “Bonkers!”

This level of Revolving Door Corruption & Engineering of Consent is pure banana republic stuff —  but at least Guatemala have bananas

Bananas