Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of malign actors imitating the interfaces of reputable sources on public trust in digital content.

It is a key priority of this government to preserve the integrity of our democratic processes and safeguard the public from interference by malign state and non-state actors, including through AI-enabled threats and manipulated media.

The Online Safety Act will tackle illegal disinformation and misinformation including state-sponsored disinformation via the Foreign Interference Offence, including deepfakes and other forms of manipulated media. This means that companies will have a legal duty to take preventative action to identify and minimise their users’ exposure to state-linked interference with UK society. Such content will need to be swiftly removed, requiring tangible action against state-backed attempts to undermine our democratic, political and legal processes.

In addition to our regulatory approach, the DSIT National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) analyses attempts by foreign states to artificially manipulate the online information environment. The NSOIT works with social media platforms to support and encourage them to put in place policies that are fit for purpose, consistently enforced, and which respect freedom of expression.