Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps the Defending Democracy Taskforce is taking to tackle disinformation and misinformation online.

The Defending Democracy Taskforce coordinates and drives forward a whole-of-Government response to protecting the integrity and security of our democratic processes from a full range of threats.

DSIT leads the UK’s policy on disinformation and uses both legislative and non-legislative actions to make it harder to spread false information and to reduce its impact. Under the Online Safety Act, in-scope services are required to tackle illegal online content, including mis- and disinformation. This includes content aimed at disrupting the democratic integrity of the UK. Further, DSIT leads the government’s Media Literacy Action Plan, which aims to build UK resilience to misleading information in all contexts.