The UK government has announced plans to allow foreign states to hold up to a 15% stake in British newspapers and magazines, following the full ban introduced just last year. In a statement on Thursday, May 15th, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described the revised approach as “proportionate” and aimed at removing “a potential chilling effect on press sustainability.”
The Labour government introduced the change after reviewing the strict ban put in place by the previous Conservative administration. That ban was prompted by widespread concern over a 2023 takeover attempt of The Telegraph and The Spectator by RedBird IMI—a joint venture between a U.S. firm and IMI, which is backed by Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
Culture Secretary Nandy said the move would help media outlets seek much-needed investment while limiting the risk of foreign influence. “We are fully upholding the need to safeguard our news media from foreign state control whilst recognizing that news organizations must be able to raise vital funding,” she said. “Britain’s free and independent press is a national asset like no other and it is right that we have strong measures in place to allow scrutiny of UK takeovers that might go against the public interest.”
The government also announced that media merger regulations will be expanded to cover online news publications and magazines, which previously fell outside the scope of UK media ownership scrutiny laws that focused on television, radio, and print newspapers.
