Social media platforms will have to proactively look for and remove “disinformation” from foreign state actors under a proposed amendment to upcoming online safety laws. Foreign Interference will also be made a designated priority offence.
In a statement on Tuesday, the government wrote that it will table an amendment to link the National Security Bill with the Online Safety Bill.
However, the Free Speech Union, an organisation dedicated to upholding free speech in Britain, said that the difficulty is “first defining misinformation and second determining whether it’s state-backed.”
Foreign States or Their Puppets
Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said that the “invasion of Ukraine has yet again shown how readily Russia can and will weaponise social media to spread disinformation and lies about its barbaric actions, often targeting the very victims of its aggression.”…