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Original article published by UK Parliament on 27 March, 2026.
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Image: Unsplash
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) should give greater priority to fighting disinformation abroad, but even more importantly, the UK Government must work much harder to combat disinformation, which has the potential to seriously undermine our own democracy. There is no room for complacency.
The considerable lessons the FCDO has learnt by defending democracies abroad from foreign disinformation need to be developed and applied in the UK as a matter of urgency.
Today’s report calls on the Government to:
- Launch public awareness campaigns to educate citizens about the risk of foreign disinformation and interference, including declassifying examples and holding regular briefings with the media and civil society organisations
- Create a statutory, public-facing National Counter Disinformation Centre
- Take from the 5% defence uplift to increase funding and staffing within the Hybrid Threats Directorate
- Defend media freedoms, and recognise that accurate, impartial news is essential to the UK’s national security and overseas interests. This includes long-term funding for the BBC World Service, with an increased funding settlement drawn in part from the defence budget.
- Require social media companies to make algorithms transparent to the public
- Increase cooperation with allies, in particular with European allies
The report analyses the disinformation threats by region, examining countries such as Russia, China and Iran; non-state groups the Wagner Group and Daesh; and the geopolitical regions of the Black Sea, Africa, the Indo-Pacific and the Americas.
The report finds that the depth and intensity of hostile activity orchestrated by Russia across the West is that of a state at war.
Chair comment
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Dame Emily Thornberry MP, said:
“I was shocked to learn just how widespread organised disinformation has become. It is the new warfare and open liberal democracies are sitting ducks. From pushing provable lies, to planting false seeds of doubt, disinformation is the weapon of choice of hostile states seeking to destabilise democracies. It seeps into societal cracks, seeking out our vulnerabilities to exploit them. It aims to undermine our sense of identity and cohesion, and even our ability to tell fact from fiction, in order to leave us divided and weakened.”
“Russia’s hybrid attacks in particular amount to a state of war against the West. The work of the FCDO in Eastern European countries is remarkable, but it is very disappointing to see that the FCDO lacks the resource to do more and meet the ever-increasing need elsewhere. Our report calls for an increase in funding to be drawn from the planned 5% defence and national security uplift. After all, if Russia is already conducting information warfare against the West, the UK must be ready to defend itself.”
“Our inquiry found that work on disinformation is too fragmented and disconnected across Government. To bring this work together and take a lead, we are calling for the creation of a National Counter Disinformation Centre, in the same way that there is a National Cyber Security Centre.”
“We also found that the Government hasn’t communicated the scale and depth of the threat that disinformation poses to the public. Frankly, we need a bit less caution and bit more candour. Government should, when appropriate, declassify examples of disinformation and provide regular briefings to the media and civil society organisations.”
“The truth is our greatest defence against disinformation. Impartial, balanced journalism is an act of defiance in oppressive autocracies. We are very concerned about the BBC World Service. Which at this time, when hostile powers are pumping out lies across the world, is being cut back, not built up. There has never been a time when it has been more needed. While we welcome the Government’s announcement that it will increase funding in the short term, the long-term funding of the Service is yet to be agreed, nor its value recognised. In our report we recommend drawing in part from the defence uplift to fund the Service.”
“Of course, Government cannot do everything, and social media companies also need to do their part. We are calling for algorithms to be made available for public research and for social media companies themselves to produce annual reports on disinformation.”
“We also found patterns of international behaviour that were familiar. Such patterns are happening at home albeit on a smaller scale, but we have learnt how quickly they can be expanded at election time, for example. We haven’t seen evidence that the Government would be ready if we are subjected to the type of sustained attack we have seen elsewhere.”
“As we head into the local elections, the UK must apply the lessons we learn overseas and be willing to act to protect the truth in this country.”
Further information
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Posted by: Nayara Güércio (Trilateral Research)