UK launches new agency to counter Russian disinformation 'tide'
UK minister Andy Burnham has announced a new National Centre for Information Defence to tackle systematic disinformation campaigns. Experts say targeting networks and infrastructure matters more than chasing individual posts.
The UK government is moving to confront what minister Andy Burnham calls a "poisonous tide" of disinformation campaigns reaching into British households and reshaping how people feel about their country. To address this, a new body — the National Centre for Information Defence — is being established.
Disinformation tactics vary widely, from deepfake videos stamped with the BBC logo falsely blaming Ukraine for a deadly missile strike on Kramatorsk, to efforts to "poison" AI systems by flooding the internet with false stories in hopes chatbots will repeat them.
Experts say infrastructure matters more than isolated posts
Ned Mendez, head of research at Alliance4Europe, says chasing individual social media posts is a "losers' game" — the real problem lies in the networks distributing disinformation. Sophie Williams-Dunning, a cyber analyst at the Rusi thinktank, describes a sophisticated ecosystem that includes not only Russia but also far-right influencers and individuals seeking to profit from divisive content.
A study conducted mostly in February by the Social Market Foundation found that more than a quarter of news-related posts on X were misinformation, a third of which were anti-immigration or Islamophobic in nature.
A long-running campaign about London
One of the longest-running disinformation campaigns has pushed the narrative that London is "dangerous" and "lawless". Analysis by King's College London found related Reddit posts rose from 874 in 2008 to 258,444 in 2024. Researcher Robert Topinka notes that Russia often does not originate such narratives but amplifies existing points of social tension.
The UK government already sanctioned employees of the Social Design Agency and ANO Dialog in May, entities it says the Kremlin uses for large-scale interference campaigns. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that AI-generated content has become a near-standard part of disinformation operations.
