October 29, 2018

In July 2018, the DCMS House of Commons Select Committee published its interim report on the issue of disinformation and “fake news”. The Government has now published its response.

The Government agrees that “fake news” is a poorly defined and misleading term that conflates a variety of false information. It says it has sought to move away from the term and use instead the terms “disinformation” and “misinformation”.

On setting and enforcing standards for online content, the Government agrees “with the spirit” of the recommendations that greater regulation is needed. It says that it is working with industry to develop a range of regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives to “improve transparency and accountability in the online environment where information is shared”.

On the Committee’s recommendation that a working group of experts should be established to create a credible annotation of standards, so that people can see, at a glance, the level of verification of a website, the Government says it is currently undertaking a range of research projects to better understand the scale, scope and impact of disinformation campaigns in the UK. It will continue to work with industry, civil society, academic and international partners to conduct research and “build a robust evidence base that informs any policy response”.

The Committee’s interim report said that electoral law in this country is not fit for purpose for the digital age, and should be amended to reflect new technologies. In response, the Government says that it has published a consultation on “Protecting the Debate: Intimidating, Influence and Information”, seeking views on proposed changes to electoral law, including whether the Government should extend electoral law requirements for an imprint on campaigning materials to digital communications. It is awaiting the results of the consultation before taking further action.

The Committee also recommended that a new category of tech company be formulated, which tightens tech companies’ liabilities, and which is not necessarily either a “platform” or a “publisher”. In response, the Government says it is “looking at the legal liability that social media companies have for illegal and harmful content shared on their sites”.

As for the Committee recommendation that clear legal liability for tech companies to act against harmful and illegal content on their platforms should be established, the Government says that “social media companies need to take more responsibility for illegal and harmful content on their platforms”. It also says that it is exploring a broad range of legislative and non-legislative options and will set out its plans as part of the White Paper on online safety legislation that it intends publishing this winter.

In response to the Committee’s call for a professional global Code of Ethics to be developed by tech companies, the Government says that the leading social media companies are “already taking significant steps to better protect their users from a number of illegal online harms through the development of technical tools and successful partnerships with charities”. The Government says that its social media code of practice, published in draft in May 2018, provides guidance to social media providers on appropriate reporting mechanisms and moderation processes to tackle abusive content. “By setting out clear standards for industry, we will make sure there is improved support for users online, and that more companies are taking consistent action to tackle abuse”. To access the response in full, click here.