UNITED KINGDOM
UK Public Service communications professionals will receive special training in how to combat fake news.
The decision was made after Executive Director of the Government Communications Service (GCS), Alex Aiken previously warned that the problem posed a threat to democracy.
It also comes in the wake of rising awareness of the dangers of disinformation, with the GCS pointing to Russia’s response to the Salisbury poisonings and the actions of campaigners opposed to vaccinations as two examples.
The GCS has created a “RESIST counter-fake news” toolkit, which provides a step-by-step guide to recognising and tackling disinformation.
The toolkit defines disinformation as the “deliberate creation and dissemination of false and/or manipulated information that is intended to deceive and mislead audiences, either for the purposes of causing harm or for political, personal or financial gain”.
It states that the threats posed range from threatening public safety, damaging community cohesion, and reducing trust in institutions and the media to damaging economic prosperity and undermining the integrity of government, the Constitution and the democratic process.
In some cases, the “objective is to support the foreign policy goals of a hostile state actor”, the toolkit said.
Sources within the Public Service said officials were concerned about the acceleration that social media platforms and online media gave to the spread of disinformation.
“Our primary objective in countering disinformation is to give the public confidence in information so they are equipped to make their own decisions,” the toolkit said.
In recognition of the fact that the toolkit alone will not solve the problem, training in counter-disinformation is already under way.
Government officials are particularly keen to ensure that police and other emergency services communications teams are aware of the new resource, but stress that it is aimed at the whole of the public sector.
London, 10 April 2019
