Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support is available to media organisations to (a) detect and (b) counteract foreign disinformation.
Answered by Saqib Bhatti - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government takes the issue of information threats to national security seriously, and the UK has a strong record of working closely with a wide range of different stakeholders to tackle these risks.
We recognise the invaluable role of a free and independent press in providing accurate and reliable information. Government works to complement the efforts of our independent press sector through a number of initiatives to counter disinformation.
For example, in 2022 the Government provided the BBC World Service with £4.1m emergency funding to help it to continue to bring independent, impartial and accurate news to people in Ukraine and Russia and counter disinformation in the face of increased propaganda from the Russian state. The Government has also directly sanctioned Russia-backed state media organisations who spread disinformation, helping to prevent the most prolific and harmful sources of disinformation from spreading propaganda to UK audiences online.
The Government has also recently passed the Online Safety Act (OSA), which includes the Foreign Interference Offence as a priority offence. This will require social media companies to take action against a wide range of state-sponsored disinformation and interference targeted at the UK. Ofcom will produce guidance for providers on how they should fulfil these duties. The consultation for this guidance closed in March 2024 and Ofcom is currently finalising these codes, due to come into force at the end of 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to address the concerns of the Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority that a small number of tech companies creating AI Foundation Models are developing partnerships which shape the markets in their own interest.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring that digital markets work well for businesses and consumers. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill will give the CMA new, faster and more effective tools to identify and address competition issues in digital markets, including AI foundation model markets. The Bill is on track to receive Royal Assent in spring subject to parliamentary timings, and we expect the regime will come into force in Autumn this year. In the meantime, the CMA has been using its existing markets and mergers tools to look into AI foundation models.
It will be for the CMA as the independent regulator to decide how to exercise its new and existing powers to address any competition issues in digital markets as they develop.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will publish a list of meetings her Department has had with local authorities on the switch off of the public switched telephone network since April 2023.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department has regular meetings with Local Authorities on this issue. That is in addition to frequent meetings with other relevant stakeholders, including industry and the signatories of the Charter.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will publish a list of her Department's meetings on the public switched telephone network Charter since January 2024.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Department has regular meetings with Local Authorities on this issue. That is in addition to frequent meetings with other relevant stakeholders, including industry and the signatories of the Charter.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps are being taken by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to draft new legislation to regulate the growth of artificial intelligence applications.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In the AI Regulation White Paper consultation response, the Government noted that all countries will eventually need to legislate. The Government also set out initial thinking on the case for highly targeted binding measures for the most powerful general purpose AI models.
However, the Government emphasised that it would not rush to regulate until there is a mature understanding of risk, else regulation could prove ineffective and stifle innovation. The Government has also established the AI Safety Institute to understand and evaluate the safety of AI models within Government.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 support businesses secure their digital infrastructure against the provision of technological services from companies deemed a potential threat to national security.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The security of UK businesses and their digital infrastructure is a priority for the government and a key part of the National Cyber Strategy. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) works with Ofcom, UK technical authorities (the National Cyber Security Centre & National Protective Security Authority) and industry to identify risks and secure telecoms network infrastructure.
The UK Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021 sets out one of the world’s toughest telecoms cyber security regimes and places stringent obligations on public telecoms networks providers to protect networks against security threats. The Act also created new national security powers to control the use of high-risk vendors in the UK’s telecoms network. The government encourages businesses to improve their digital infrastructure security through the Cyber Essentials scheme and the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 22261 on Voice Over Internet Protocol: Telemedicine, how many written updates from Communication Providers she has received on their approach to the migration from Public Switched Telephone Network to Voice over Internet Protocol since January 2024; and if she will publish updates received.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
I can confirm that extensive discussions with Communication Providers (CPs) are ongoing, with a formalised reporting system having recently been established and a first update expected in May. Separately, Ofcom has also agreed a formal incident reporting system with CPs, with the first update expected in July of this year.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Melton)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether UK Research and Innovation have (a) staff and (b) offices in China.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
UK Research Innovation (UKRI) has one overseas office in China with seven staff, co-located in the British Embassy Beijing.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether national security clearance was sought by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and approved, before purchasing the Lenovo supercomputer from a Chinese electronics company.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government has been clear that when tensions arise between its objectives in relation to China, national security will always come first. This procurement took place through a robust public sector procurement process with all necessary qualifying security criteria
The UK's world leading cyber security experts are providing the necessary support and advice to assure the security of the system, as is normal.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact on university research and innovation of the reduction in applications from overseas postgraduate students.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We are committed to ensuring the UK and our world-leading universities remain competitive and attractive to the brightest and the best and that UK students have chances to excel at postgraduate study.
Postgraduate courses in the UK attract healthy levels of interest from domestic and overseas graduates.
We will monitor this closely to ensure the UK continues to attract and retain the best research talent.