Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to tackle public health misinformation on social media platforms.

The Department ensures that all official information is badged appropriately with the Government crest; National Health Service branding or associated public health campaign branding, to reinforce its credibility. Any misinformation detected is dealt with on a case by case basis depending on the level of impact it could have on public health.

We are working closely with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on their white paper on Online Harms. Information on the upcoming white paper and Government Communication Service’s existing advice can be viewed at the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-laws-to-make-social-media-safer

https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/news/5-trends-in-leading-edge-communications/