# UK publishers urge Burnham to act on deceptive AI bots

Published: 2026-10-17T21:36:39.073Z · Source: News Media Association (https://newsmediauk.org/blog/2026/10/15/publishers-urge-burnham-to-tackle-threat-to-journalism-from-stealth-bots/)
Source date: 2026-10-15

CEOs and editors of eight UK national news outlets — including Guardian Media Group, The Sun, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Financial Times, The Express and The Daily Record — signed a letter urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to back the Automated Online Software (Access and Transparency) Bill, per the News Media Association, which organized the letter. The bill, a Private Member's Bill from MP Damian Hinds, would require bots scraping UK websites to disclose who operates them and why, distinguishing search indexing from AI training. The letter cites an NMA figure that 19 of the UK's top 20 news sites remain scrapable by "stealth bot" tools that spoof browser or human identity, despite those sites' existing blocking technology. The bill was scheduled for a second reading in Parliament on Oct 16, the day after the letter; neither the News Media Association nor Press Gazette has reported an outcome from that sitting, and no vote or ban has taken effect.

Why it matters: This is the UK's own entry in a fight the wire has already tracked in the U.S. and Australia — mandatory bot disclosure rather than voluntary verdicts — but as a lobbying letter ahead of an unresolved second reading, it is a publisher position, not yet a law.

## What this answers

**What is the UK's Automated Online Software bill?**

A Private Member's Bill from MP Damian Hinds that would require bots scraping UK websites to disclose who operates them and their purpose — search indexing or AI training — which had its second reading scheduled for Oct 16, per the News Media Association.

**What are "stealth" or "deceptive" AI bots?**

Bots that spoof a browser's or human's identity to get past robots.txt blocks and paywalls; the News Media Association says 19 of the UK's top 20 news sites can still be scraped this way despite having blocking technology in place.


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