The chairman of the media regulator Ofcom has said she believes internet businesses such as Google and Facebook are publishers, raising the prospect that they could eventually face more regulation.

Dame Patricia Hodgson also revealed that the board of Ofcom discussed how the internet could be regulated in the future at a strategy day last week, although she said this was ultimately a matter for the government.

Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are under growing pressure over the growth of fake news – including stories allegedly pushed by Russia before the 2016 US election – the spread of extremist content such as terrorist propaganda videos, and whether the sites should pay news providers for content.

Hodgson was speaking to MPs at a hearing of the digital, culture, media and sport committee.

Asked about the rise of fake news and whether internet companies should face greater regulation, Hodgson said: “Those particular distribution systems [Facebook etc] are not within Ofcom’s responsibility but we feel very strongly about the integrity of news in this country and we are totally supportive of steps that should and need to be taken to improve matters.

“My personal view is I see this as an issue that is finally being grasped – certainly within the EU, certainly within this country – and to my amazement and interest, being asked in the United States as a result of the potential Russian scandals. My personal view is that they are publishers but that is only my personal view, that is not an Ofcom view. As I said, Ofcom is simply concerned about the integrity of news and very supportive of the debate and the steps that are being taken.”

Theresa May’s spokesman said Hodgson’s comments were “a matter for her” as an independent regulator, but indicated that ministers were sympathetic.

“We are looking at the role that Facebook and Google play in the news environment,” he said, noting that the Conservative manifesto had promised a digital charter. He added: “As part of this work we will look carefully at the roles, responsibilities and the legal status of the major internet platforms.”

Hodgson, who is due to leave Ofcom next year, said the media regulator planned to contribute more to the debate about how to handle internet companies and the rise of fake news.

“We don’t have an evolved position on it but interestingly it was one of the sessions that the board looked at in its annual strategy day last week. We will contribute some thinking and some work. I mean, this again is a political decision, it’s a matter for government,” she said.



Sharon White, the chief executive of Ofcom, said she was wary of regulating internet companies. “We feel strongly that the platforms as publishers have got more responsibility to ensure the right content,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a question of regulation, which I think has a fuzzy boundary with censorship, but I think we feel strongly that the platforms ought to be doing more to ensure their content can be trusted.

“I think it’s a very, very complex issue, where it is easier to identify some of the problems about the lack of trust and I think it’s much harder to see this as a very straight regulatory question.”