Anti-disinformation unit studies civil unrest and foreign interference – but still no word on staff numbers


A new administration now oversees the work of the prosaically named National Security Online Information Team, but questions from opposition MPs about its costs and staffing continue to go unanswered

Ministers for the new administration have indicated that government’s controversial anti-disinformation unit is currently focusing on areas including the summer riots and the potential for hostile states to disrupt the UK’s democratic processes.

However, the Labour government has – like its predecessor – thus far refused to provide core operational information on the National Security Online Information Team (NSOIT).

Having been established as the Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU) in the early days of the coronavirus crisis in spring 2020, NSOIT has long been dogged by criticism of its monitoring activities and unanswered questions about staffing levels, funding, and methods of operation.

Various parliamentarians from across the house – as well as PublicTechnology and other journalists – have pressed the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, where the unit resides, for basic information.

The latest enquirer to do so is Reform MP Rupert Lowe who recently asked DSIT to provide details of NSOIT’s costs, the amount of civil servants employed by the unit, and the “number of people monitored… in each year since 2020”.


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In response, AI and digital government minister Feryal Clark declined to comment on funding or staffing “as this information could give hostile actors insights into UK capabilities”. But she did state that the unit’s remit is “to identify information threats by analysing narratives and trends from publicly available information online, around topics or events where ministers agree there is a high risk to UK audiences [and] this does not include the monitoring of individuals”.

In a follow-up question from Lowe concerning current “topics and events” on which the unit is focusing, the DSIT minister revealed that current areas of interest include disinformation related to the anti-immigration riots that took place in the summer, as well as the potential for hostile actors to target public life in the UK.

“NSOIT leads the operational response to information risks to UK audiences,” Clark said. “Its ministerially agreed remit is to focus on public safety and national security risks. This includes mis- and disinformation arising from events such as the public unrest which occurred over the summer as well as ongoing risks to the UK’s core values and democratic processes from foreign states’ interference.”

The NSOIT name was only adopted by the former CDU earlier this year. But the rebrand has done little to quell concerns about the opacity of its work and what critics describe as “worrying overreach”.

Sam Trendall

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