MPs will be helped to spot conspiracy theories
MPs are to be given resources to help spot conspiracy theories amid a warning from Penny Mordaunt that people are being “bombarded with deliberate misinformation”, The Telegraph can reveal.
Mrs Mordaunt, the Leader of the Commons, has been working with the Commons Library on a service that will help “explain some of the most prominent conspiracy theories” circulating online, including those relating to the Ukraine war and anti-Semitism.
The Telegraph understands the move follows concerns in government that Andrew Bridgen, the former Conservative MP, was effectively “radicalised” by misinformation about Covid vaccines. The resources are part of a drive to modernise the services provided to MPs after the problem was flagged in a survey of members earlier this year.
The Commons Library told The Telegraph it would be providing the resources under the umbrella of its “confidential research service for MPs and their staff”.
“Our impartial library experts can fact-check information and verify data, helping MPs to be certain they are accessing accurate content,” it said. “We are also developing further resources, such as briefings, FAQs and training sessions, which will help MPs and their staff to identify dis and misinformation.
“We are in touch with the Leader’s office and are keen to develop stronger links with Government to ensure this work is as impactful as possible.”
Mrs Mordaunt said the resources had been prompted by a flood of online disinformation, adding: “The public are bombarded with deliberate misinformation, particularly on social media, on a vast range of topics from vaccines and healthcare to anti-Semitic tropes to the Russia-Ukraine war.”
She added that while the Government’s Online Safety Act would help to deal with the problem by forcing social media companies to remove some illegal content, “as a society we also need to critically examine the information that we are presented with”.
“To support MPs on that in Parliament, I have been working with the House of Commons Library to make sure that MPs and their offices have access to reliable, verified information from subject matter experts,” she said.
Mrs Mordaunt said the work was “particularly important in the context of the recent rise in anti-Semitism” following the Oct 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
She said she had been working with the Commons Library, the Anti-Semitism Policy Trust, the Community Security Trust and the TellMAMA anti-Islamophobia project on “enhanced resources which explain some of the most prominent conspiracy theories, how to recognise them and how to counter them so we can all better support our constituents and lead the charge in clamping down on hatred”.
Mr Bridgen was expelled from the Tory Party in April after describing the Covid vaccine rollout as “the biggest crime against humanity since the Holocaust”.
The MP, who now represents Laurence Fox’s Reclaim Party, has previously claimed that “security services around the world” knew about Covid in the summer of 2019. He has also shared a conspiracy theory that the US Department of Defense was “responsible for both the virus and the vaccines”.
The resources come at a time of anxiety about the role online disinformation might play in the UK general election, expected next year, as well as in next November’s US presidential election.
There is particular concern that artificial intelligence could significantly amplify misleading content, including through the use of digitally manipulated deepfakes.
Mr Bridgen was contacted for comment.
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