Require media retractions be made as visible as original headlines or articles

228
signatures
closedDepartment for Culture, Media and SportOpened 16 April 2025Closed 16 October 2025

Background

We think media companies should not be allowed to get away with printing false, misleading and malicious headlines, only to hide the retractions on interior pages or fine print some days later. Retractions should have to have the same prominence as the original headline or article.

Additional details

In today's fraught media environment, which many consider to be "post truth", we feel this simple measure could make newspapers, websites, and even broadcasters think twice about sensationalist, misleading, and outright false statements on front pages, websites, or broadcasts. We feel that as a society we should not continue to allow media to peddle propaganda dressed up as news, with lax regulation and meaningless punishments.

Where it’s popular

Constituencies with the most signatures on this petition.

Source: UK Government & Parliament Petitions service. Petition ID: 718602.