Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many accounts have been reported to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for anti-vaccine disinformation by the Government’s rapid response unit.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. Since March 2020 the DCMS-led cross-Government Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) has worked to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and the reach of disinformation and misinformation linked to COVID-19.
The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms, whose responsibility it is to take action in accordance with their terms and conditions. As an operational matter it is not appropriate for the government to give a running commentary on the amount of disinformation identified.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many posts have been reported to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for anti-vaccine disinformation by the Government’s rapid response unit.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously. Since March 2020 the DCMS-led cross-Government Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) has worked to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and the reach of disinformation and misinformation linked to COVID-19.
The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms, whose responsibility it is to take action in accordance with their terms and conditions. As an operational matter it is not appropriate for the government to give a running commentary on the amount of disinformation identified.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date was the most recent meeting of the Government’s counter disinformation forum in which anti-vaccine disinformation was discussed.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Counter Disinformation Policy Forum was a six-month pilot programme that concluded on 10 June 2021. It brought together social media companies, academics, fact-checkers and researchers in response to concerns about the serious risk of harm posed by COVID-19 and anti-vaccination mis/disinformation.
Although the Policy Forum has concluded, DCMS regularly meets with major social media platforms bilaterally and at an Industry Group. This helps further our collective understanding of the issues and the steps being taken to address misinformation and disinformation in order to ensure this issue is tackled effectively. DCMS also continues to engage with relevant cross-sector expertise from across academia and civil society.
In addition the DCMS-led Counter Disinformation Unit monitors for false and misleading narratives shared on social media. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what date was the most recent meeting of the Government’s counter disinformation forum.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Counter Disinformation Policy Forum was a six-month pilot programme that concluded on 10 June 2021. It brought together social media companies, academics, fact-checkers and researchers in response to concerns about the serious risk of harm posed by COVID-19 and anti-vaccination mis/disinformation.
Although the Policy Forum has concluded, DCMS regularly meets with major social media platforms bilaterally and at an Industry Group. This helps further our collective understanding of the issues and the steps being taken to address misinformation and disinformation in order to ensure this issue is tackled effectively. DCMS also continues to engage with relevant cross-sector expertise from across academia and civil society.
In addition the DCMS-led Counter Disinformation Unit monitors for false and misleading narratives shared on social media. Where dangerous and incorrect claims about the virus are identified these are flagged to the relevant platforms.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of covid-19 lockdown restrictions on Remembrance Sunday and related events.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
We are planning for this year’s National Remembrance Sunday Service to take place on November 8. We will be putting in place a number of mitigations according to the official public health guidance so that this significant national event can take place safely. We will continue to monitor the situation and will make further changes should they become necessary.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the £750 million Government financial support announced for charities in response to the covid-19 outbreak has been paid out; and to how many charities that funding has been allocated.
Answered by John Whittingdale
Of the £750m of financial support for charities during the Covid-19 crisis, £360m was committed to be distributed by other government departments, which includes £200m to be distributed to hospices via the Department for Health & Social Care. Currently, over £150m has been dispersed for hospices. Of the remaining £160m allocated to other government departments, £59.4m has been distributed.
£310m of the £750m total was committed to support small and medium charities in England during the Covid-19 crisis. Of this, £200m has been allocated to the Coronavirus Community Support Fund (CCSF) which is being distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund. To date, 934 grants have been awarded to charities and social enterprises in England, totalling approximately £20m. Of this, payments have been made to 463 organisations, totalling £5,163,403.
We are continuing to review the early findings from the distribution of the Coronavirus Community Support Fund (CCSF) to ensure that the remaining £110m is utilised in the most effective way, addressing emerging priorities.
Lastly, the government committed to match-fund the £36.5m raised during the BBC Big Night In. To date, £21.9m has been disbursed to our partners (NET & Comic Relief). Please note that no funds have been distributed to Children in Need yet.
We have published clear and comprehensive guidance on the full £750 million package of support for charities and how organisations can apply for it on Gov.uk. This guidance will be updated frequently: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/financial-support-for-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprise-vcse-organisations-to-respond-to-coronavirus-covid-19
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with civil society organisations on the effect of covid-19 on their (a) financial stability and (b) ability to deliver effectively for communities as part of the Government's civil contingency planning.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Organisations across civil society are already working tirelessly to support their communities in response to covid-19. I have had several conversations with civil society organisations about responding to covid-19 and its potential impact on charities and social enterprises. Last week the Minister for Civil Society, Baroness Barran, held a roundtable with over 45 charities to listen to their concerns. We are working with colleagues across government to shape support available to mitigate risks in the coming weeks and months and deliver effectively for communities.
Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with sensory loss have full access to subtitles and audio description whilst using on-demand content.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Government remains committed to seeing an improvement in the provision of access services for video-on-demand (VoD) services and will continue to monitor progress. If the 2015 ATVOD’s annual survey of VOD Services indicates that significant progress has not been made, then as stated in the Connectivity, Content and Consumers Paper (July 2013) we will consider legislation in 2016.