Jeremy Corbyn warned "tech giants and unaccountable billionaires" that he will seek to curb their control of information, but denied he was retaliating for negative coverage during his three years as leader of the UK’s opposition Labour Party.
Corbyn — who has been accused of anti-Semitism, siding with terrorists and drifting on Brexit during a summer under siege — said Britain’s print media is "wedded so firmly" to Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party and "corporate interests" that reform is essential to redress the balance. The "tightening oligopoly" of news online must be addressed for the same reason, he said.
"This isn’t about any retribution or retaliation to anybody," Corbyn said in a speech in Edinburgh on Thursday. "I want us to have a strong and vibrant democracy and I support journalists who want us to have a strong and vibrant democracy."
He proposed a windfall tax on technology companies to fund "public interest journalism," a digital licence fee and elections to the BBC board as part of a plan to "reduce government political influence" on the taxpayer funded broadcaster.
There needs to be "bold, radical thinking on the future of our media" to restore trust and limit the impact of the digital revolution, he said. Without action "a few tech giants and unaccountable billionaires will control huge swathes of our public space and debate."
Corbyn’s supporters have accused the mainstream media, including the BBC, of bias against him and claim rich newspaper owners such as Rupert Murdoch are seeking to deter the public from his redistributive socialist policies.
"Media bosses, billionaires" and "the state" have too much power to stifle political discussion and are stopping reporters from performing their "essential" role in British democracy, Corbyn said. "For all the worry about new forms of fake news we’ve ignored the fact that most of our citizens think our newspapers churn out what they believe to be fake news day in, day out."
Bloomberg
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