Agencies within the “UK intelligence community” collaborated with the government’s Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU) to regulate dissent related to the Covid-19 pandemic on social media, according to classified documents presented to the British government’s Covid-19 inquiry. These documents, marked as “official sensitive,” allege that the UK intelligence community worked closely with the CDU during the pandemic where appropriate. The specific agencies involved within the intelligence community, such as MI6, MI5, and GCHQ, were not disclosed in the documents.
The CDU, established in 2019 to combat disinformation surrounding European elections, reportedly had up to 50 staff members during the pandemic. Susannah Storey, the director general for digital, technology, and telecoms at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, revealed during the inquiry that the CDU answers to a 12-member “disinformation board” which includes members of the intelligence community. Sarah Connolly, the board’s director, previously informed Parliament that one of the CDU’s key tasks was to pass information over to platforms like Facebook and Twitter to encourage the swift takedown of posts.
The Telegraph obtained documents earlier this summer showing that the CDU utilized artificial intelligence to identify and flag comments made by critics of the government’s Covid policies. Some of these critics reportedly included Molly Kingsley, who advocated against closing schools during the pandemic through her children’s advocacy group ‘UsForThem’, Alexandre de Figueiredo, a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who spoke up against mass-vaccinating children against Covid-19, and Carl Heneghan, the director of Oxford University’s Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine.
The government has denied the allegations, asserting that it primarily tracked narratives and trends instead of focusing on individuals spreading them. However, these actions by the CDU bear resemblance to similar practices employed by multiple government agencies in the United States. These agencies collaborated with major social media platforms to remove dissenting posts and ban responsible accounts. Internal documents released by Elon Musk after acquiring Twitter revealed that the platform’s previous management removed posts on behalf of the FBI, CIA, Department of Defense, and a Covid-focused academic group composed of members from these agencies.
It is important to note that regulating dissent on social media has been a controversial and divisive topic. Critics argue that these actions impede freedom of speech and expression, whilst proponents claim that it is necessary to combat misinformation and protect public health. As governments and intelligence agencies continue to monitor social media platforms, the balance between safeguarding public interests and preserving individual freedoms remains a subject of ongoing debate.
Ultimately, the involvement of the UK intelligence community in collaborating with the CDU to monitor and remove dissent on social media adds a significant layer of surveillance and control over public discourse during the Covid-19 pandemic. The full extent of these actions and their implications on civil liberties and democratic processes are yet to be fully understood and evaluated.
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