Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has come up with the idea of a new sister organisation to the BBC called the "British Digital Corporation", which might be able to create a new, publicly funded Facebook-like platform.

The so-called BDC and the nationalised Facebook alternative were just some of the swag of new ideas and policy proposals that Corbyn presented to the Edinburgh International Television Festival on Thursday as part of a major media speech called the "Alternative Mactaggart Lecture".

Despite the large digital footprint of the BBC already, Corbyn said the new organisation would take on the likes of Netflix and Amazon, and maybe create a social media platform to compete with Facebook.

"A BDC could use all of our best minds, the latest technology, and our existing public assets not only to deliver information and entertainment to rival Netflix and Amazon but also to harness data for the public good," Corbyn said.

"A BDC could develop new technology for online decision-making and audience-led commissioning of programmes and even a public social media platform with real privacy and public control over the data that is making Facebook and others so rich."

