Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Counter Disinformation Unit is still in operation; and whether it has conducted any monitoring of a) sitting MPs, b) former MPs, c) political activists and d) political organisations since it was established.

The Counter Disinformation Unit became the National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) in October 2023. NSOIT identifies and understands information threats to UK audiences, focusing on those which present a public safety or national security risk. The team conducts open-source analysis of narratives and trends in the online information environment; this does not include the monitoring of individuals. It would not be appropriate to comment on funding levels publicly as doing so would give malign actors insight into the scale of our capabilities.