DCMS Secretary of State writes about the importance of a free and diverse media
What makes a healthy democracy? The strongest and most progressive countries share lots of qualities, but they have two vital things in common: a free and diverse media and the right to dissent. This week, a vocal Twitter minority went after both (writes Department of Culture Media and Sport Secretary of State OLIVER DOWDEN) .
GB News had barely begun broadcasting when pressure group “Stop Funding Hate” tried to stifle it, piling the pressure on advertisers to boycott Britain’s newest current affairs channel for spreading “hate and division”. It came in a week when we had already witnessed free journalism under assault with the despicable harassment of BBC journalist Nick Watt.
It seems GB News’ biggest crime – or rather “pre-crime”, as it’s called in the dystopian Minority Report when people are proactively punished for wrongs they haven’t committed yet – was to signal that it might not always agree with the media consensus. When he launched the channel, veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil vowed that GB News would not be “an echo chamber for the metropolitan mindset”, and that it would “empower those who feel their concerns have been unheard”.
Rightly so. A free media is one that has a diverse range of opinions and voices – and as I said earlier this week, GB News is a welcome addition to that diversity. We need outlets and commentators who cover the range of the political spectrum; who can speak truth to power; and who are willing to challenge dogma or orthodoxy.
I’ve no doubt plenty of people will disagree with some of the things GB News commentators have to say – just as plenty of people disagree with the things they see and hear on the BBC, Sky News or any other media outlet. But if you don’t like those ideas, switch over – don’t silence. We shouldn’t be blocking people from the conversation simply because we disagree with them.
That is exactly why, when we were developing legislation to boost online safety and tackle social media abuse, I was determined to make sure it couldn’t be used to stifle debate. Every country is grappling with this – but I believe the UK has struck the right balance and carved a path for the rest of the world to follow with our Online Safety bill, which we published in draft form last month.
That bill will protect children online and help stamp out the vile social media abuse, including racism and misogyny. Crucially, though, it also includes strong safeguards for free speech and the freedom of the media.
There will be a new requirement for social media companies to protect freedom of expression. The largest social media platforms will need to be clear to users about what they allow on their sites, and enforce it consistently.
That means they won’t be able to arbitrarily remove content – and if a user feels they have, they’ll have a new right to appeal. Right now if content is removed there is no recourse to review or in many cases even get an explanation as to why material has been taken down. Our bill will enhance the protections in place.
We’ve also got special safeguards for journalistic and “democratically important” content. News publishers’ content won’t be in scope – whether it’s on their own sites or on other online services. Journalists will also benefit from increased protections when they post on social media. The largest platforms will also have to protect political opinions on their sites, even if certain activists or campaign groups don’t agree with them.
Those are the grounds of a functioning democracy. Sadly we can no longer take them for granted. Across the West, our values of tolerance and freedom of expression, for which previous generations have fought and died, increasingly risk being undermined by a small but vocal minority. For them, these are not absolute, but relative, concepts, ready to be bent to silence dissent from their world view.
Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok and YouTube partnered with UK government to encourage users to get the vaccine
Collaboration comes as all adults aged 18 and over invited to get a jab
Filters and a range of stickers will be available on Snapchat from today
Other platforms will host live question and answers with medical experts providing vaccine advice
Leading social media platforms popular with young people including Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube, are supporting the vaccination programme by encouraging their users to get coronavirus (COVID-19) jabs.
The partnerships come as all adults aged 18 and over are invited to receive a vaccine in England as the vaccination programme continues at unprecedented pace and scale.
Snapchat users can use NHS stickers, a filter, and later this month, an augmented reality lens that all read: ‘I’ve had my vaccine’ for UK users to share on their accounts.
The platform is also hosting a series of question and answers with medical experts on the Prime Minister’s snapchat account. The most recent took place on Saturday (19 June) with Dr Kiren Collison, the interim Deputy Medical Director for Primary Care for NHS England, who answered questions from the public about the vaccine.
Snapchat has also expanded its: ‘Here For You’ feature which provides in-app resources to people looking for more information around health, mental health and wellbeing.
When someone searches for ‘COVID-19’, ‘vaccine’, ‘NHS’ and ‘vaccination’, they will have access to expert NHS resources on the vaccine to make sure they are well informed, build confidence and tackle misinformation.
The activity supports the NHS ‘every vaccination gives us hope’ campaign encouraging younger people to get their vaccine and join the millions of people who have already received their jabs.
The government met its target of offering a vaccine to the most vulnerable by 15 April and is on track to offer a first dose to all adults by 19 July, 2 weeks earlier than planned. NHS England has extended the offer of a vaccine to all adults.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “With the offer of the vaccine now extended to all adults in England, we are leaving no stone unturned to boost uptake and encourage everyone to get the jab when eligible.
“I am delighted that Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok and YouTube – some of the most influential social media platforms – are coming together to support the biggest and most successful vaccine effort in NHS history.
“We’re accelerating our vaccine programme on the road to recovery and I urge everyone to come forward for the offer, roll up their sleeves and join the millions that already have the fullest possible protection from 2 doses.”
Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “Our vaccine rollout has been a great success story and is now available to all adults.
“We have worked closely with social media platforms throughout the pandemic to promote life saving vaccine information, and this new initiative with popular platforms will help drive take-up even higher.
“We are also tackling misinformation online through our new Online Safety Bill to make sure people are not bombarded by harmful content.”
The community network platform Reddit has hosted 2 live ‘ask me anything’ sessions on its coronavirus forum, featuring experts such as Dr Amalina Bakri answering questions from Downing Street. Reddit will continue to host question and answers over the coming weeks to help people access factual and reliable information from a range of experts.
TikTok’s support for the vaccine rollout includes adding the NHS ‘I’ve had my COVID vaccine’ stickers to its library for users to share, and working with Team Halo – a group of scientists using the platform to provide the latest information on vaccines with entertaining and shareable videos.
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “I’m thrilled that some of the leading social media platforms are joining forces to boost vaccine uptake among younger people. This is another incredible asset to our vaccination programme, which is already saving lives.
“The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic and we have made incredible progress so far with more than 4 in 5 adults receiving at least one dose and all adults being invited.
“I encourage everyone to get the jab – it could stop you becoming seriously ill and protect your loved ones.”
Ed Couchman, UK Regional General Manager at Snapchat, said: “With Snapchat playing a key part of the lives of young people around the world, we’re thrilled to collaborate with the government to make sure they have accurate and trusted resources to stay safe, healthy and informed.
“As well as creative tools, it’s great to be expanding our in-app health and wellbeing support portal with NHS resources about the vaccine and to host question and answer sessions with key government officials from the Prime Minister’s official Snap Star account.
“As we enter this next phase of the COVID-19 recovery in the UK, we continue to explore new ways we can collaborate with trusted partners and organisations to help support the health and wellbeing of our Snapchat community.”
In collaboration with the NHS, YouTube has rolled out a video campaign with the tagline: ‘Let’s Not Go Back’ to remind its core 18 to 34-year-old audience of the importance of being vaccinated through messaging that speaks to their personal experiences from a year in lockdown.
The campaign is running on YouTube, and on national billboards and bus stop advertising, and on social media. Collectively, these information panels have served over 400 billion impressions worldwide.
Ben McOwen Wilson, UK Managing Director at YouTube, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support the NHS with our ‘Let’s Not Go Back’ campaign to encourage young people to get vaccinated. From billboards to bus stops, online and off, we reached young people wherever they are to raise awareness of the key role they have to play.
“It has been fantastic to witness the public response to our national initiative and to have seen the rates at which young people have stepped up. We will continue to work to combat the pandemic by using YouTube’s extensive reach among young people to help in this critical national effort.”
Dr. Jessica Ashooh, Director of Policy for Reddit said: “Building bridges between policymakers, industry experts, and online communities is central to how we elevate authoritative vaccine information on Reddit.
“Our partnership with 10 Downing Street has enabled us to promote quality COVID-19 resources for Redditors in the United Kingdom.”
Last year Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden and Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock agreed new measures with social media platforms to limit the spread of false vaccine information and help people find the information they need about any COVID-19 vaccine.
At a virtual roundtable, Facebook, Twitter and Google committed to the principle that no company should profit from or promote false information about COVID-19 vaccines, to respond to flagged content more swiftly, and to work with authorities to promote scientifically accurate messages.
The government has also developed a toolkit with content designed to be shared via WhatsApp and Facebook community groups, as well as Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, to tackle false information about the vaccine.
Earlier this year we announced that Facebook and Instagram are backing a new nationwide social media campaign launched by the government and the NHS for people to show their support for the vaccine roll out.
The initiative allows users to update their profiles with a range of specially-designed profile frames and graphics. People can use these to show ‘I’ve had my vaccine’ or make a pledge that ‘I will get my vaccine’.
The government met its target of offering a vaccine to the most vulnerable by 15 April and is on track to offer a first dose to all adults by 19 July, 2 weeks earlier than planned. NHS England has extended the offer of a vaccine to all adults.
More than one million jabs were booked on Friday and Saturday after vaccinations opened to all over-18s in England.
From today (Monday 21 June), you cannot travel between Scotland and these places in England unless it’s essential:
Manchester
Salford
This is due to concern over a rise in Delta variant coronavirus cases.
These rules also still apply to Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen. Non-essential travel was banned between Scotland and Bolton and Blackburn with Darwen on 24 May.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “Nobody wants travel restrictions in place for any longer than is absolutely necessary.
“Placing restrictions on travel between Scotland and Manchester and Salford has only been taken after extremely careful consideration and analysis of data to help prevent the spread of variants of concern.”
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham yesterday accused the Scottish government of “hypocrisy” over the travel ban.
He criticised the Holyrood government for a failure to communicate and said he will write to Ms Sturgeon and ask the Scottish government to compensate local people who had planned to travel to Scotland and businesses that could lose bookings.
Travel restriction measures will be kept under review.
Police Scotland is appealing for information after the attempted murder of a 34-year-old man in West Pilton.
Officers were called to a report of a man found injured in a common stairwell in West Pilton Grove in Edinburgh at around 5pm on Friday (18 June).
The man was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where he was treated for injuries to his head and body.
Detective Inspector Alison MacDonald of CID said : “We are carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this attempted murder, and trace whoever is responsible.
“A review of CCTV footage in the local area is ongoing and officers are carrying out house to house enquires in order to establish what happened.
“We are keen to trace the driver of a dark blue hatchback which was seen to be driving erratically in the area around the same time.
“We would like to speak to anyone who witnessed this attack take place, or motorists who were driving in the area of West Pilton Grove between 4pm and 5pm on Friday, 19 June and have dash-cam footage, you may have captured something that will assist our inquiry.
“Anyone with information on this attack should contact detectives at Corstorphine Police Office though 101 quoting reference number 2690 of 19 June. Alternatively Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.”
