Contemporary social policy with regard to the media

Contemporary social policy with regard to the media

Contemporary Social Policy and the Media

Legislation and Regulation

  • Social policy in the media involves legislation and regulation to ensure fairness, accuracy, and to protect individuals’ rights. Recently, it has evolved in response to the changing nature of media.

  • The Communications Act 2003 replaced several earlier regulations, consolidating them into a single act and established Ofcom – the Office of Communications, which oversees media broadcasts and telecommunications in the UK.

  • Defamation Act 2013 was introduced to balance the need to protect individuals’ reputations from false statements with the need for freedom of expression.

Policy Challenges with New Media

  • The rise of digital technology has created new challenges for regulation and social policy in the media, especially related to online content.

  • Online Harms White Paper (2019) responded to these challenges by proposing stricter regulation of online content that is harmful or illegal, including hateful speech, violence, and cyberbullying.

  • The distribution of ‘fake news’ is another contemporary challenge, particularly in relation to political information and public opinion forming. Policies revolving around verification and fact-checking mechanisms have thus been proposed.

Media Monopoly and Plurality

  • The government has also introduced policies to ensure media plurality. These policies aim at preventing a single media owner from having too much control and influence.

  • Media ownership rules in the UK restrict who can own certain types of media and how much they can control, to maintain diversity and plurality across the sector.

Digital Divide

  • Social policy also attends to the issue of the digital divide – the gap between those who have access to the internet and digital technology, and those who do not.

  • Numerous programmes and initiatives have been put into place to address this issue, such as the Digital Inclusion Strategy, which aims to reduce the number of people in the UK who are not online by making digital skills and resources more accessible.

Privacy and Data Protection

  • In the context of growing online surveillance and data collection, social policy on the media includes legislation on internet privacy and data protection.

  • The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), implemented across Europe in 2018, regulates the way organisations are allowed to use personal data, providing citizens with more control over their own information.

Public Service Broadcasting

  • Policy on public service broadcasting (PSB) is a crucial part of the social policy regarding the media.

  • The UK government aims at maintaining a strong system of PSB that produces high-quality and diverse content with the goal of educating, informing, and entertaining the public.

  • The BBC Charter governs the operation of the BBC, requiring it to act in the public interest and produce content that reflects the diverse communities within the UK.

Overall, the social policy with regard to the media is a rapidly evolving field which seeks to balance a range of objectives including the need to protect citizens, ensure that the media serves the public interest, and uphold freedom of expression.