The Information Commissioner had said plans to make websites “age appropriate” will not affect news organisations.

Elizabeth Denham, left, has moved to respond to concerns previously raised by the News Media Association and Society of Editors, which warned the proposals could end up “forcing some regional titles to fold.”

The Information Commissioner’s Office consultation into the planned age appropriate code, which seeks to protect young people and children under the age of 18 from having their data details exploited on the web.

However, Ms Denham has now admitted the ICO should have been “clearer” on the plans.

In a blog post, she said: “This consultation has helped us ensure our final code will be effective, proportionate and achievable. It has also flagged the need for us to be clearer on some standards.”

Ms Denham added: “We do not want to prevent young people from engaging with the world around them, and we’ve been quick to respond to concerns that our code would affect news websites. This isn’t the case.

“As we told a DCMS Select Committee in July, we do not want to create any barriers to children accessing news content. The news media plays a fundamental role in children’s lives and the final version of the code will make that very clear.”

The SoE had previously expressed fears that that publishers could face huge fines if the age-appropriate criteria were not met, forcing some titles to fold.

That final version of the code will be delivered to the Secretary of State ahead of the statutory deadline of 23 November.