Online publications face regulation under Hunt proposals

Online publications and blogs are to be regulated under radical proposals by the new chairman of the Press Complaints Commission.

Lord Hunt, PCC chairman since October, told Exaro: “At the moment, it is like the Wild West out there. We need to appoint a sheriff.”

Many online publications are bound to see his plans as restricting the freedom offered by the web compared with traditional forms of publishing.

Hunt also revealed that he wants to scrap the Press Complaints Commission and replace it with a new regulator – more independent of newspapers. He was speaking, ahead of a meeting with editors tomorrow morning (Thursday), in an interview with Exaro.

His initial plan for online media is to invite bloggers who write on current affairs to volunteer to be regulated by the replacement body for the PCC.