Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Defending Democracy Taskforce has made an assessment of the prevalence of (a) misinformation and disinformation and (b) AI in the Slovakian general election.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The FCDO will continue to work with international partners, including those holding elections this year, to exchange best practice on shared threats to our democratic processes including information threats and AI.
We continue to monitor international electoral events to inform our work to protect the UK from interference in our democratic process, including elections.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans that the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme will go live.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
We intend that the scheme will become operational later this year. The work to deliver this, including establishing a Case Management Unit, the supporting IT, and developing relevant guidance, is happening at pace.
We are working on ensuring regulations on the new powers covered in the National Security Act are fully consulted on with operational partners and key stakeholders and are laid in Parliament as Statutory Instruments in advance of go live of the scheme.
The Government expects to publicise the intended ‘go live’ date several months in advance to ensure those affected by the scheme are given sufficient time to prepare.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress he has made on tackling SIM farms since 3 May 2023.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Last week, I joined a City of London Police operation which saw two men arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. The men were in possession of SIM farms which allow fraudulent texts to be sent to the public.
We must deny criminals access to any tool that allows them to send bulk messages or make scam calls.This is why in May 2023, we consulted on proposals to ban SIM farms. The Government’s response to the consultation is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/preventing-the-use-of-sim-farms-for-fraud
We are now taking legislative action to ban “SIM farms”, technical devices that allow criminals to send scam texts to thousands of people at the same time.
The Criminal Justice Bill introduces a new offence of supplying or possessing SIM farms, without good reason or undertaking adequate due diligence. The measures will also allow the extension of the ban to other technologies that are exploited by criminals to scam the British public, subject to a high level of scrutiny and checks.
This new offence will make it more difficult for criminals to access and use these devices for the purpose of fraud and will give police the necessary tools to disrupt fraudsters.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff in his Department are working on countering deepfake material.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Office is working closely with law enforcement, international partners, industry and across Government – including with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) as lead Department - to address the risks associated with deepfakes.
This includes Home Office teams working across crime and policing, national security, immigration and science and technology as well as the Defending Democracy Taskforce. Work on deepfakes forms part of a wider Home Office programme to manage the risks and opportunities from artificial intelligence.
We are unable to provide figures for departmental staff working on deepfakes as headcount is captured according to crime type, or broader work on artificial intelligence, and not broken down into activities specific to deepfakes.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Defending Democracy Taskforce is taking to help reduce disinformation at the next general election.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Government is committed to safeguarding the UK’s elections and already has established systems and processes in place, to protect the democratic integrity of the UK.
DSIT is the lead department on artificial intelligence and is part of the Defending Democracy Taskforce which has a mandate to safeguard our democratic institutions and processes from the full range of threats. The Taskforce ensures we have a robust system in place to rapidly respond to any threats during election periods.
Furthermore, the Online Safety Act places new requirements on social media platforms to swiftly remove illegal misinformation and disinformation - including artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes - as soon as they become aware of it. The Act also updates Ofcom’s statutory media literacy duty to require it to take tangible steps to prioritise the public's awareness of and resilience to misinformation and disinformation online. This includes enabling users to establish the reliability, accuracy, and authenticity of content.
Finally, the threat to democracy from artificial intelligence was discussed at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to international collaboration on this shared challenge.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2024 to Question 8979 on Home Office: Public Appointments, what his Department's timescale is for the publication of the outcome of the recruitment process for the role of the Independent Advisor for the Defending Democracy Taskforce and Open-Source Intelligence Hub.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
In line with similar appointments, the Home Office will publish the outcome of the recruitment process for the role of the Independent Advisor for the Defending Democracy Taskforce and Open-Source Intelligence Hub.
The Government will publish the outcome at the earliest opportunity.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps officials in his Department are taking with their counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to tackle money laundering in British Overseas Territories.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
Illicit finance is an active and growing threat to the UK family and can undermine our national security, prosperity, and democracy. As set out in the 2023 Economic Crime Plan 2 (ECP2), tackling economic crime is a high priority for the UK Government, including in the Overseas Territories (OTs).
ECP2 commits the UK Government to using our diplomatic and technical influence to further strengthen partnerships with other financial centres, particularly in the OTs. The Home Office, alongside other government departments such as HM Treasury and law enforcement partners, has supported the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) to strengthen our strategic dialogue and technical cooperation with the OTs on a range of economic crime threats such as countering sanctions evasion and money laundering.
The Home Office and FCDO also work together on supporting beneficial ownership transparency in the OTs. The Home Office will continue to support the FCDO on this important agenda.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress (a) his Department and (b) the Security Minister have made on preparations for the global fraud summit.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Global Fraud Summit will be held in London on 11-12 March. It will bring together international ministers, industry leaders, law enforcement, and multilateral organisations to signal our commitment to work together to tackle fraud.
The Home Secretary will host the Summit.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 8437 on Organised Crime, what his Department's timescale is for the publication of the cost of Serious and Organised Crime.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Home Office will update the figure this year once data for financial year 2022/23 is available across all the SOC crime areas. We estimate that a research report on the cost of serious and organised crime will be completed and ready for publication in 2025.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to footnote 2, page 9 of the publication entitled No Place to Hide: Serious and Organised Crime Strategy 2023-2028, if his Department will publish the reasoning for using inflation as the sole factor of methodology in updating the cost of Serious and Organised Crime in the UK from £37 billion to £47 billion per year.
Answered by Tom Tugendhat - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
The Home Office will update the figure in 2024 once data for financial year 2022/23 is available across all the SOC crime areas.