Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to tackle the proliferation of malign AI generated content farms.

The Government takes the issue of information threats to national security very seriously, including threats posed by foreign states, and the use of AI and deepfakes. DSIT works closely across government and with social media platforms, civil society groups, academia, and international partners, to tackle these risks.

DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) is focused on threats from foreign states, as well as risks emerging from the use of deepfakes to imitate elected leaders and interfere with elections and the use of bots to drive disinformation and fuel division.

The Online Safety Act will also address a range of threats posed by AI. The Act will force companies to take action against illegal content online, including illegal AI-generated content, and will require companies to take steps to remove this illegal content if they become aware of it on their services. This includes the Foreign Interference Offence, which has been added as a priority offence in the Act, forcing companies to remove a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-linked interference online.