Written Evidence May. 20 2024
Inquiry: Defending DemocracyFound: Disinformation must be countered with the pursuit of a socio-technical approach ●Public awareness, digital literacy
Mentions:
1: Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con - Life peer) We know how to take this performance approach, but alongside numeracy and literacy we need data literacy - Speech Link
2: Lord Clement-Jones (LD - Life peer) We need to take action on digital literacy. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Viscount Camrose (Con - Excepted Hereditary) literacy strategy to generate awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation. - Speech Link
2: Viscount Camrose (Con - Excepted Hereditary) We are establishing bridges between these communities and the social media platforms. - Speech Link
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had discussions with Meta on funding for the Community News Project.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry.
We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Asked by: Robert Buckland (Conservative - South Swindon)
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 help tackle digital astroturfing on social media.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the range of tactics which could be employed to spread mis- and disinformation and the threat that these can pose. DSIT’s National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT) analyses coordinated attempts to artificially manipulate the online information environment, working with a range of partners, including social media platforms, civil society groups, academia, and international partners, to tackle it.
Digital astroturfing, amongst other techniques sometimes used by state actors to interfere with UK society, will be captured by the Foreign Interference Offence. This has been added as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act and will capture a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and state-backed operations. Companies will have a legal duty to take proactive action to prevent users from encountering material that amounts to an offence of Foreign Interference, which could include content linked to digital astroturfing, and minimise how long any such content is present on their services.
Under the Act, Ofcom’s Disinformation Advisory Committee is empowered to conduct research and build understanding on mis- and disinformation related issues, which may include the threats posed by digital astroturfing. In addition, Ofcom’s updated statutory duty to promote media literacy includes specific duties to raise the public’s awareness of how to keep themselves and others safe online, including by understanding the nature and impact of mis- and disinformation. This could include initiatives related to specific malicious tactics.
Mentions:
1: Gill Furniss (Lab - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) It is no wonder that one in six adults in the country have very low levels of literacy, rising to one - Speech Link
2: Barry Sheerman (LAB - Huddersfield) Lady may remember the Education Committee’s winter reports on the importance of early literacy from the - Speech Link
3: Damian Hinds (Con - East Hampshire) Everyday experiences at a bus stop, on a train or in a supermarket are all part of that early literacy - Speech Link
4: Damian Hinds (Con - East Hampshire) makes a number of recommendations, which will inform the development by the Department for Culture, Media - Speech Link
Asked by: John Penrose (Conservative - Weston-super-Mare)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, further to the Online Safety Act 2023, what additional steps she plans to take to help tackle online disinformation and misinformation.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Online Safety Act will be our key tool in combatting the most egregious forms of online mis- and disinformation but Government action doesn’t stop there.
In addition, we are educating and empowering users through our work on media literacy, responding to information threats to our democracy via the Defending Democracy Taskforce, and analysing attempts to artificially manipulate the online information environment through the work of the National Security Online Information Team.
I regularly meet with major platforms to discuss these issues and would be very happy to update him on recent progress that has been made.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of Meta ending funding for the Community News Project on local journalism.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information.
The government is disappointed to see that Meta is closing its Community News Project. We are working to support journalism and local newsrooms to ensure the sustainability of this vital industry.
We are introducing a new, pro-competition regime for digital markets. The regime, which aims to address the far-reaching power of the biggest tech firms, will help rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely. This will make an important contribution to the sustainability of the press.
Additionally, our support for the sector has included the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the extension of a 2017 business rates relief on local newspaper office space until 2025; the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy; and the BBC also supports the sector directly, through the £8m it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Written Evidence Mar. 26 2024
Inquiry: Defending DemocracyFound: literacy, and all-of-society resilience.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of big technology digital companies on the online news media market.
Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
As the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism identified, more and more aspects of society are played out online, and local news publishers are facing significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models. The Cairncross Review further concluded that some of the biggest technology companies are able to impose unfair terms on publishers, which limits publishers’ ability to monetise their content and threatens the sustainability of the press. We have introduced legislation to address the far-reaching power of the biggest technology firms. Among many other things, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will help to rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely.
We have also supported news publishers through the delivery of a £2 million Future News Fund, the zero-rating of VAT on e-newspapers, and the publication of the Online Media Literacy Strategy. The BBC also continues to support the sector directly, through the £8 million it spends each year on the Local News Partnership, including the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, which was expanded in 2020 to fund the placement of 165 journalists in newsrooms across the UK.
Separately, Ofcom is exploring the possible impacts of the growth of online news, and the role of online intermediaries in particular, on media plurality, and what, if any, regulatory changes may be necessary to maintain and secure it. We will consider Ofcom’s recommendations when its findings are published.