LONDON: The United Kingdom will establish a new agency to counter disinformation from hostile states such as Russia and threats amplified by artificial intelligence, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said on Wednesday.
Streeting said the initiative would help the public distinguish facts from propaganda and misinformation.
“A world where the public find it hard to separate fact from fiction, propaganda from reality, is a dangerous place for a democracy to be,” he told BBC Radio 4.
The new centre will also work with trusted voices across civil society, Streeting said. Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced plans for the National Centre for Information Defence during his address to the United Nations General Assembly.
UK Raises Concerns Over Russian Disinformation
Burnham accused hostile actors of launching what he described as an “industrial-scale assault” on the UK’s information environment.
He said Russian agencies had used various methods to spread disinformation and exploit public fears.
Burnham also repeated accusations that Moscow attempted to interfere in Britain’s 2019 general election. Russia has faced similar allegations over interference in British politics during the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The prime minister further accused Moscow of amplifying far-right narratives and contributing to tensions and unrest following major events.
Burnham said artificial intelligence could increase the scale and impact of disinformation and cyberattacks as the technology develops.
“Today I am tasking our security chiefs to begin work on a new National Centre for Information Defence — to detect, attribute and disrupt these kinds of hostile state information attacks,” he said.
He added that other European countries were also facing similar challenges as more elections approach.
UK Plans Global AI Standards Push
Burnham also told the UN General Assembly that Britain would seek to lead international efforts to establish global AI standards.
He said AI could bring major benefits but also create growing national security risks if safeguards failed to keep pace with technological development.
The UK is also working with the United States on an AI defence partnership aimed at improving the detection of cyberattacks against critical infrastructure. The partnership will involve British and US defence technology teams.
The new information defence centre is expected to focus on detecting, attributing and disrupting hostile state-backed information operations.
