Last week, a rebellion in the Lords drew a government pledge to ban foreign governments and their proxies from owning British newspapers and magazines. It was a historic moment for the defence of press freedom in the era of acquisitive, well-connected autocracies: it will have global significance. But the devil was always going to lie in the detail, and we’ll get in the third reading of the Digital Markets Bill on Tuesday. Things are still at a sensitive stage.

The risk is that ministers may row back and allow the Emiratis to become part-owners of this magazine and the Telegraph by keeping a low stake of 5 per cent or even 1 per cent. This would still grant them the ownership status that they seek, albeit on a far-diminished basis. It’s still unclear. And if it remains unclear, you can be sure the autocracies will push this as far as they can.

The is about principles, not percentages. The published text of the amendment says the government must act to prevent ‘foreign powers from gaining control or influence over newspaper enterprises’. Allowing the Emirati government the status of part-ownership – whether 1 per cent or 25 per cent – is allowing them to gain influence. This is not explicitly ruled out in the wording; the fuzziness may be deliberate. A smell of fudge is wafting from the DCMS.

Why would the Tories fudge it? Perhaps they think they need to keep the Emiratis sweet because they want them to invest in projects such as Sizewell C. They may think: ‘Let’s give them a 5 per cent, even a 1 per cent stake in the Daily Telegraph. It’s negligible. They would have no real power and it saves face, which is what we need to do, in order to keep that Emirati cash flowing.’

So the principle of autocratic part-ownership of UK media – which should not be entertained by any self-respecting democracy – may still be allowed, just to keep the Emiratis on board.

QOSHE - Will Sunak renege on ‘foreign powers’ owning newspapers? - Fraser Nelson
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Will Sunak renege on ‘foreign powers’ owning newspapers?

9 17
24.03.2024

Last week, a rebellion in the Lords drew a government pledge to ban foreign governments and their proxies from owning British newspapers and magazines. It was a historic moment for the defence of press freedom in the era of acquisitive, well-connected autocracies: it will have global significance. But the devil was always going to lie in the detail, and we’ll get in the third reading of the Digital Markets Bill on Tuesday. Things are still at a sensitive........

© The Spectator


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