A petition has been launched to stop Rupert Murdoch’s Fox taking over Sky has already gained more than 70,000 signatures.
It is on track to get more than 100,000 in less than two days, having attracted 30,000 signatures in just the last two hours.
On Thursday afternoon, Murdoch’s US-based 21st Century Fox agreed a formal bid to buy the 61% of Sky it doesn’t already own.
But campaigners are worried about the deal, because it would mean Murdoch having control of both the country’s biggest newspaper group (The Sun and The Times) and the most-watched broadcaster, Sky News.
The petition, hosted on 38 Degrees, urges culture secretary Karen Bradley to get media regulator Ofcom to investigate the £11.7billion takeover.
‘Murdoch already has too much influence over our news,’ it says.
‘This new power-grab will give him even more. And the more power Murdoch has, the easier it’ll be for him to make politicians dance to his tune.
‘Karen Bradley, the minister who can stop this deal, will be worried about upsetting Murdoch. His newspapers could turn against her.
‘But she’s new to her job adn isn’t used to pressure from hundreds of thousands of us demanding she acts.
‘If we can build a huge petition now, she’ll know the public wants her to act and could tip the balance.’
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