‘Make Facebook promote quality news’

TECH GIANTS such as Google and Facebook should have a “news quality obligation”, overseen by a regulator, to improve trust in the content they host, a Governmentcommissioned review has found.

In a wide-ranging report, the Cairncross Review into the future of the UK news industry called for Ministers to look at new tax breaks for “public interest” journalism, with direct funding for local public interest news.

It recommended the creation of a new institute of public interest news, along the lines of the Arts Council, to channel a combination of public and private finance into those parts of the industry deemed most worthy of support. Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright welcomed the review’s findings, saying that while some could be acted on immediately, others would require “further careful consideration”.

The review, chaired by former senior journalist and academic Dame Frances Cairncross, was commissioned by Theresa May.