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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the contract tendered by her Department on 31 March 2022 with procurement reference 102915, what recent assessment she has made of the (a) level and (b) adequacy of knowledge and understanding of (i) civil servants and (ii) Government Ministers relating to harmful misinformation and disinformation online.

The contract opportunity is a re-tender of an existing contract for misinformation and disinformation monitoring and analysis services to support the Counter Disinformation Unit, which brings together capabilities and expertise from across Government to provide a comprehensive picture of the scope, scale, and reach of misinformation and disinformation.

Ministers and officials work closely with a range of partners with different expertise, including social media platforms, academia, civil society organisations, and commercial partners to ensure a whole society approach to tackling the evolving threat of disinformation and misinformation online.