Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if civil servants in the Government Communications Service are tasked with monitoring social media posts.

The Government Communication Service (GCS) monitors publicly available media posts, under strict controls, to measure communication effectiveness, understand public narratives, and address potential mis/disinformation.

GCS does not access private information or monitor individuals, but collects, stores, and processes data from public social media posts.

Reports may include examples of high-performing public content relevant to government priorities, and adheres to a published Privacy Notice (link below) outlining the legal basis for monitoring.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/privacy-notice-social-and-digital-media-analysis/privacy-notice-social-and-digital-media-analysis

GCS uses commercially available automated and AI tools, such as Storyzy, procured via the civil service framework, for information environment analysis; no external contractors are used.