Combating Disinformation: Freedom of Expression Debate
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Lord Kamall
Main Page: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Kamall's debates with the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology
Combating Disinformation: Freedom of Expression
Lord Kamall Excerpts(9 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Viscount Camrose (Con)
Well, the Government are clear, as is NSOIT, that disinformation refers to the deliberate attempt to mislead by placing falsehoods into the information environment. As part of the Civil Service, NSOIT would have robust internal measures to verify and check its own work, and indeed it reports regularly across government and to Ministers.
Lord Kamall (Con)
My Lords, can my noble friend the Minister explain what guidance is given to the unit to distinguish between disinformation and difference of opinion?
Viscount Camrose (Con)
Disinformation is a deliberate falsehood. A difference of opinion is generally something of democratic importance or of journalistic or pluralistic importance, which it is very important to protect and which the Online Safety Act took very considerable measures to safeguard over its passage.