, raising concerns that the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) is 'monitoring online dissent'. The secretive unit was set up by ministers in 2019 to combat disinformation – false information that is spread deliberately – and initially focused on foreign interference in the European elections. However, The Telegraph reports have highlighted how the CDU turned its attention to the Covid pandemic the following year, and monitored social media posts by members of the British public. Documents disclosed under data protection laws show that the unit, and an AI firm employed by it, collected legitimate posts questioning the Government's lockdown policies. They included comments by respected scientists and campaigners, who have publicly opposed vaccine passports or the mass vaccination of children. MPs – including Mr Davis and Ms Lucas – have also had their online activities recorded. In the MPs' letter, which was also signed by Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Labour MP for Streatham, they warned that the CDU 'appears to have suffered serious mission creep' and said: 'We will not accept the monitoring and censorship of dissent under the guise of countering disinformation. 'We call on you to suspend the CDU immediately and commission an independent review of its work, in order to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and privacy are sufficiently protected.' Lack of transparency The letter was copied to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle. It also raised concerns about the lack of transparency around the CDU's activities. Sarah Connolly, DSIT's director of security and online harms, who heads up the unit, has previously told Par){kind=link}
Cross-party MPs write open letter to Government claiming secretive unit is collecting legitimate posts criticising policy
A government unit accused of seeking to suppress free speech should be suspended immediately and face an independent review, a cross-party group of MPs has said.
Conservative MP David Davis and Green Party leader Caroline Lucas have written to Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Digital, Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), raising concerns that the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) is “monitoring online dissent”.
The secretive unit was set up by ministers in 2019 to combat disinformation – false information that is spread deliberately – and initially focused on foreign interference in the European elections.
However, The Telegraph reports have highlighted how the CDU turned its attention to the Covid pandemic the following year, and monitored social media posts by members of the British public.