Social Media: Disinformation

(asked on 12th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence from social media analytics that QAnon is gaining support in the UK; what discussions they have had with social media companies about removing content which promotes conspiracy theories which breaches community guidelines; and what action they are taking to combat such misinformation online.


Answered by
Baroness Barran Portrait
Baroness Barran
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This question was answered on 19th November 2020

The Government is focused on addressing disinformation or misinformation by any actor. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it continues to be vitally important that the public has accurate information about the virus, and DCMS is leading work across Government to tackle disinformation.

That is why we stood up the Counter Disinformation Unit up on 5 March to bring together cross-Government monitoring and analysis capabilities. The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken.

Throughout the pandemic, we have been working closely with social media platforms to quickly identify and help them respond to potentially harmful content on their platforms, including removing harmful content in line with their terms and conditions, and promoting authoritative sources of information.

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