Sir Keir: Why tech giants must pay for news

SIR Keir Starmer has signalled that Labour would force tech giants to pay news publishers for their content if the party wins the next election.

He said it was ‘only fair’ that news providers should be ‘rewarded for their work’ and that platforms such as Google and Facebook shouldn’t be the only organisations profiting from it.

The Labour leader added that newspapers and publishers also needed to be given ‘greater control of their data and content’. The Government has faced calls to tackle the negative impact US online giants are having on journalism in the UK with their market dominance.

In April last year ministers launched the Digital Markets Unit aimed at redressing the imbalance. But well over a year on, the body still only exists in a ‘shadow’ form and has yet to be given statutory powers.

A news media bargaining code has been introduced in Australia, to give businesses more power when negotiating payment with tech platforms.

In a piece written to coincide with the annual Journalism Matters campaign, Sir Keir wrote that the ‘sustainability of journalism’ was under threat.

‘In the platform age, it’s only fair that creators are fairly rewarded for their work and not just the platforms that profit from it,’ he continued. ‘That’s why we support moves to make platforms pay for news content and to give newspapers and publishers greater control of their data and content.’

Sir Keir added: ‘The Government must act to secure the future of our media.’

In September, a Lords committee warned that the digital watchdog must be brought into law urgently to stop mounting harm to UK companies and consumers.