As digital giants like Facebook and Google continue to serve as main sources for news in the media, many argue that they are “bleeding the newspaper industry dry by sucking up advertising revenue”, as stated in The Guardian. In Britain a digital economy bill is currently being drafted that will persuade legislators to have these giant corporations pay for their advertising.
In the proposal “a 1% levy will be considered for companies like Facebook and Google to pay for independent and non- profit journalism.” Throughout the UK these establishments are paying minimal tax while lacking diversity with the information provided.
Des Freedman, a professor of media and communications stresses that “the time for policymakers to address the emergent gaps in the supply of diverse media and to secure the trusted and independent news system that our democracy so desperately needs.”
In an earlier article, The Guardian addressed the dynamics of Facebook and Google within the UK. “The two companies’ hold on the UK digital display market is almost equally as strong as their hold on the total digital ad market,” said eMarketer. “Facebook will continue to grab the lion’s share of UK digital display spends over the next few years.”
DigitalNewsReport.org, The Reuters Institute Digital News Report, explains that throughout the UK, some of most “effective ways of delivering public service news via third-party platforms including search engines, social media, video-hosting sites, and messaging apps.”
They also reported that online news users consume, share or discuss news via Facebook. Only in the UK do significantly more people use public service media for news online than use social media for news. Due to this, it serves as a reason why Britain is trying to arrange the digital economy bill which “addresses a range of policy issues related to the electronic communications infrastructure and services, including copyright infringement, restrictions on access to online pornography and Ofcom’s relationship with the BBC.”