Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many officials in her Department are working in the Counter Disinformation Unit.

Addressing the challenges of disinformation and misinformation is a whole-of-Government effort, and FCDO works on this closely with all relevant Departments, including the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The CDU is a standing unit that draws on a range of expertise from across government, social media platforms and disinformation specialists in academia and civil society to lead the fight against misinformation and disinformation.

It would not be appropriate to comment on operational details such as staffing levels publicly as doing so would give malign actors insight into our capabilities. However staffing requirements are continually reviewed to ensure appropriate levels of resourcing, including surge capacity where needed.