Commenting on Corbyn’s plan to hit Netflix, Google, and Facebook with a new tax to fund the BBC, the Adam Smith Institute’s Head of Research Sam Dumitriu said:

“This is an anti-innovation, anti-consumer, and anti-youth move. Younger viewers now spend more time watching Netflix than the BBC. But rather than respecting their choice, Corbyn’s Digital License Fee forces young people to pay more for the programmes they want to watch in order to subsidise the programmes they don’t.

“As more and more viewers switch to Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube, the government should consider scrapping the License Fee and turning the BBC into a subscription service. This would force the BBC to stay lean and focus on what its viewers actually want.”

On the Labour leader's idea to create a taxpayer-funded social media service to compete with Facebook and Twitter:

“This would be a colossal waste of public money. Corbyn may fret about receiving ads for hotels in Somerset, but most people don’t. If they did they might switch to one of the many ad-free competitors to Facebook, Twitter, and Google, like Mastodon or Ello. 

“Consumers are concerned about privacy, but they worry more about government surveillance than targeted ads. I doubt any privacy-conscious web user would willingly hand over their personal data to Corbyn’s knockoff Facebook.”

If you want any further comment or to arrange an interview contact Matt Kilcoyne (07584778207; 02072224995 OR matt@adamsmith.org).