The United Kingdom is planning to create a National Centre for Information Defence aimed at countering foreign disinformation and other alleged information attacks. Critics have already bashed the move and branded it as a 1984-style “Ministry of Truth.”
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced the plans on Tuesday during his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying the new center will be tasked with working to “detect, attribute and disrupt” information attacks from foreign entities. The center is expected to bring together intelligence agencies, government departments, law enforcement, and even social media companies.
The British government says the center will focus on foreign threats from countries like Russia to prevent “distorted and untrue” narratives within the UK.
“We’re talking about an insidious campaign that reaches into people’s homes and twists what they feel about their own country and community – creating a narrative of decline, stoking division and sowing despair,” Burnham said in his speech. “On top of that, we have seen cyber-attacks on our companies and institutions. We know that AI will multiply the threat. We have tiptoed around this for too long. Over the last decade we have given too much ground to those who want to run a negative, corrosive narrative about life in Britain, which bears no resemblance to reality. Well, no more.”
“We are going to face the new decade in a different way – with our eyes wide open,” he continued. “We are going to be much prouder in standing up for our values and the rule of law. And we are going to help our people to strengthen their resilience – because, faced with this information warfare, security starts in every home.”
Burnham specifically pointed to Russia as a major source of disinformation, noting that the country has spent £1.3 billion each year to manipulate information.
“Russian agencies have used every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people’s fears. They’ve used bots and fake websites. Falsified newspaper articles,” Burnham claimed.
He also said that Russia has amplified “far-right narratives” and that there is evidence the country tried to interfere in the UK’s 2019 general election.
The announcement has already been met with pushback from critics and civil liberties groups who are critical of censorship and mass surveillance. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage characterized the move as an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” aimed at clamping down on free speech.
Big Brother Watch said Wednesday that Britons should receive assurances that the new center will be limited to foreign threats and not be used to target domestic speech.
“We have already seen the mantle of countering ‘disinformation’ being abused by our Government in attempts to malign and silence dissent,” the group said. “Big Brother Watch has repeatedly found that units including the Counter Disinformation Unit, Rapid Response Unit, RICU and the MoD’s 77th Brigade have been involved in recording, flagging and triggering the censorship of Britons’ lawful speech. MPs across parties, journalists, human rights campaigners and members of the public have all been flagged in so-called ‘disinformation’ reports for lawful, truthful speech critical of the Government. We must not see a repeat of these abuses of power.”
