Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the spread of misinformation online following social media companies removing fact-checking services from their platforms.

Meta has stated that they are not rolling out changes to their US fact-checking policies in the UK at this stage. We are in contact with Meta to understand implications for UK users and will monitor changes as they are operationalised.

Regardless, the UK’s Online Safety Act will oblige all social media companies to remove illegal content and content harmful to children in the UK. Failure to comply could lead to significant fines and potentially legal action. We continue to engage social media companies on the implementation of the Act and urge them to counter the spread of mis/disinformation on their platforms.