Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support organisations that are tackling the spread of disinformation related to the roll-out of the covid-19 vaccination.

The Government has established a new cross-sector Counter Disinformation Policy Forum, bringing together industry, civil society and academia to improve responses to mis/disinformation and prepare for future threats. In November 2020, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care held a joint roundtable with social media platforms, civil society and health experts. Social media platforms were asked to commit to further action to reduce the spread of harmful and misleading narratives, particularly around the COVID-19 vaccine and to promote National Health Service advice. Following this, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter have introduced changes that focus on limiting the spread of false information.