Digital Publishing
1 min read

Prime Minister announces rapid response unit to tackle ‘fake news’

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Prime Minister is to launch a rapid response unit to battle the proliferation of “fake news” online, it has been announced.

Officially named the National Security Communications Unit, it will be tasked with deterring adversaries and combating misinformation spread by ‘state actors’.

The unit is also expected to monitor social media platforms and will be based in the Cabinet Office, according to Alex Aiken, executive director of the Government Communication Service (GCS).

Aiken said in an interview with PR Week that the civil service needed to “build a rapid response social media capability to deal quickly with disinformation and reclaim a fact-based public debate”.

Read more…