The Polis Analysis team is happy to see that –  as part of the investments into safeguarding the UK from outside forces –  disinformation is seriously being seen as a legitimate threat to the security and stability of our society.

It is the long-term threats that we need to be most concerned about – every day, we are feeling the corrosive impacts of misinformation, but its effect on society and democracy will only fully show in the longer term.

Dear Member of Parliament, the Online Safety Bill presents a unique opportunity to tackle harmful content online and protect vulnerable people including children.

The widely debated Online Safety Bill might soon be enacted into UK law. However, it unfortunately overlooks one very covert, but crucial form of harmful online content: fake news.

Whilst all referring to different aspects of a broader issue, it is important to recognise the terms fake news, misinformation and disinformation are often used interchangeably.

Last week Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced to make maths lessons compulsory for all students up to 18. However, we believe that the Government is missing a huge opportunity for additional reform to the education curriculum.

We submitted evidence to the pre-legislative parliamentary scrutiny committee calling for a holistic approach to tackling online misinformation.

While misinformation – ‘fake news’ – is often seen as a generational problem, such a simplification is both dangerous and deceptive.