London, Jan 24: The British government has launched a new “national security communications unit” to combat the growing menace of fake news and disinformation. Fake news is often referred to as completely false information, photos or videos, deliberate misinformation or hoaxes created and spread to confuse or misinform people.
The new unit is part of a wider review of the country’s defence capabilities, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Theresa May said. “We are living in an era of fake news and competing narratives. The government will respond with more and better use of national security communications to tackle these interconnected, complex challenges,” he said.
“To do this, we will build on existing capabilities by creating a dedicated national security communications unit. This will be tasked with combating disinformation by state actors and others,” the spokesperson said. The new unit will be headed by the UK Cabinet Office to more systematically deter adversaries and help deliver on national security priorities, according to the Downing Street.
It will build on teams within the government that deal with communications related to security as well as bring in external professionals, with further details of its actual base and staff yet to be finalised. The role of new entity is expected to overlap with a new rapid response unit, revealed recently in an article by Alex Aiken, executive director of the UK’s Government Communication Service (GCS), who said that he wanted to “build a rapid response social media capability to deal quickly with disinformation and reclaim a fact-based public debate”.
The UK government’s wider National Security Capability Review (NSCR), headed by national security adviser Sir Mark Sedwill, identified a gap in the UK’s ability to tackle state- sponsored disinformation operations designed to influence and disrupt daily life, as is alleged to have happened during the US presidential elections.
The review, described as the modernising defence programme, will incorporate elements of a 10-year strategic defence and security review begun in 2015, and a parallel programme called Joint Force 2025. “The defence element of the NSCR (national security capability review) has shown that further work is needed in order to modernise defence, to deliver better military capability and value for money in a sustainable and affordable way in accordance with the national security objectives,” the Downing Street statement said.
The review is expected to conclude before a NATO summit in Brussels in mid-July. The phrase “fake news” has been frequently used by US President Donald Trump who has been at loggerheads with several American mainstream media outlets, including the CNN, ABC News, The New York Times and the Washington Post.
PTI
