Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to prevent foreign actors from influencing UK democratic processes through social media.

The Government takes the integrity and security of our democratic processes seriously, including the threat of influence from foreign actors.

The UK’s Online Safety Act, will capture disinformation aimed at disrupting elections where it is a criminal offence in the scope of the regulatory framework. This includes the Foreign Interference Offence, which will shortly be in force, requiring all in-scope companies to take action against a range of state-linked disinformation and interference online.

DSIT, as a member of the government’s Defending Democracy Taskforce, also supports ongoing work to protect the democratic integrity of the UK from threats of foreign interference.