On 29 November 2024, the UK Government responded to a petition submitted by Josh Russell, who is asking for a public consultation on freedom of speech and disinformation. Mr Russell is of the opinion that “lies, fraud, and media toxicity threaten our way of life”. The question asked by the campaigner is: “How else can people know what to trust?”
Mr Russell wants the UK Government to listen and protect the democracy of the United Kingdom by driving debate in the following areas:
- Accountability of media platforms and those sharing information.
- Safeguarding freedom of expression.
- Regulation of news publishers.
- The effects of AI and algorithms on the national narrative.
Government response
However, despite the seemingly high numbers of people who responded to the petition, the UK Government disappointed those campaigning by responding that it has no plans “to hold a specific public consultation on freedom of speech and disinformation in the UK at this time.”
Yet the Government did not shut the door entirely on the proposals, saying it “keeps all legislation under review”.
What exactly is disinformation?
The UN Special Rapporteur defined disinformation as “false information that is disseminated intentionally to cause serious social harm.” It has been highlighted as a problem by the UN due to the risk it poses, and in the opinion of Professor Neilsen at Oxford University disinformation represents a range of serious issues that has the potential to:
- Distort electoral processes.
- Incite violence.
- Fuel dangerous conspiracy theories.
Misinformation or disinformation?
The difference between these two lies in what the person spreading the information believes, whether they believe the false information they spread or not, and the reason for spreading the false information. Where in the case of disinformation there is a deliberate lie, misinformation is someone spreading a lie but believing it to be true.
What harm can mis- or disinformation do?
The University of Exeter stated that disinformation can lead to conspiracy theories, the spread of false or discredited science, and the undermining of the democratic process. Exeter University also observes that there is the possibility of the public losing its trust in the media. Oxford University further observed that disinformation can overlap with misinformation. While defining misinformation as “false or misleading information, spread without intent to harm”, they make a further comparison with what they call malinformation, defined as “information that is not false, but is strategically used with intent to harm”.
The researchers at the House of Commons Library found that members of the public are usually drawn in by disinformation if it aligns with their pre-existing beliefs and provokes an emotional response, comes from a source they trust, and if they are interacting with the information for a lengthy period of time. They found evidence suggesting that trust plays a significant role, with the research indicating a link between members of the public losing trust in the authorities such as the government, police, and mainstream media, and a belief in disinformation.
However, they note that while research has indicated that disinformation influences beliefs, research into its influence on behaviour is less clear, as behaviour is influenced by multiple factors such as:
- Pre-held opinions.
- Culture and religion.
- Level of education.
- The area in which people live.
Do many people support the petition?
We don’t know how much support there is for the idea of a public consultation on freedom of speech and disinformation in the North West of England. In Oldham East and Saddleworth, a constituency where Debbie Abrahams from the Labour Party is the elected member of parliament, out of the 109,000 constituents eligible to take part by signing the petition only 13 people have taken the time to sign in support. This equates to one tenth of one percent of the population in this constituency. The petition seems to have been better received in Westmorland and Lonsdale, a constituency where Tim Farron from the Liberal Democrats is the sitting member of parliament. Here 40 people have contributed to the petition. However, looking at this figure more broadly, this represents less than half a percent of the 118,000 constituents who are eligible to take part.
The assumed lack of interest in Mr Russell’s petition could be symptomatic of a mistrust in politicians, people not feeling listened to, or a feeling that even if they were to sign the petition it wouldn’t make much of a difference. Or it could simply be that the petition is not being brought to people’s attention.
The Government does not seem to be keen on putting together a consultation on freedom of speech and disinformation. However, if anyone reading this article wants to put pressure on the Government, a first step would be to sign Mr Russell’s petition in an attempt to make a real difference and stop the spread of disinformation.
