The data watchdog is to question the Government over a secretive disinformation unit after The Telegraph revealed that it had been monitoring social media posts criticising lockdown.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said that following a series of revelations by this newspaper, it will speak to officials “to learn more about how people’s information is being used.”
Over the past two weeks, The Telegraph has exposed how the Counter-Disinformation Unit (CDU) has been targeting social media posts that criticised lockdown and questioned the mass vaccination of children.
It was in “hourly” contact with social media companies during the pandemic as it sought to ensure they “act” on disinformation, according to testimony from the unit’s chief.
During the pandemic, it worked in tandem with another government unit – the now-defunct Rapid Response Unit (RRU) – to counter false information spreading online.
However, documents revealed under information transparency laws showed that the online activities of prominent critics of the Government’s Covid-19 policies were secretly monitored.
Mass vaccination of children
This included informed concerns raised by scientists about the mass vaccination of children and arguments about the lasting negative impact of lockdown on people’s lives.
The ICO said that the watchdog had already questioned the Cabinet Office about the activities of the Government Communications Service – which included the RRU – and that it planned to reopen its line of enquiries and widen it to include the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) which has had responsibility for the CDU since March.
A spokesman said: “During the Covid-19 pandemic, the ICO spoke with the Cabinet Office about the Government Communications Service’s monitoring of the impact of government messaging and identifying of disinformation.
“The ICO concluded our enquiries in September 2021 and provided advice to the Cabinet Office on the matter, including around what data was being gathered, and what privacy information was being provided.
“Following the information that has now come to light about the Government’s broader use of personal data in this area, we’ll be speaking with the Cabinet Office and DSIT to learn more about how people’s information is being used.”
There have been calls for the unit, run by Sarah Connolly, a career civil servant with a background in anti-terror policy, to be shut down.
‘Interfering in democratic process’
David Davis, the former Conservative Cabinet minister whose comments were logged by the unit, accused it of “interfering in the democratic process” and called for the Public Accounts Committee to open an inquiry.
The Telegraph recently reported that the CDU had broken its own rules on what counts as disinformation. A manual published by the Government Communications Service titled Resist 2 warns users not to treat opinion as disinformation. Despite this instruction, legitimate opinions have been flagged to the CDU.
A government spokesman said: “The Information Commissioner’s Office looked into the RRU’s use of personal data as part of a wider-ranging review of government data use in 2021. It concluded that no formal action was necessary.
“At no point has the ICO investigated the CDU, nor have we had any informal contact with them regarding its function.
“We welcome any further informal discussions with the ICO, as we do with any use of information across Government. Neither the RRU nor the CDU have ever targeted or focused on individuals, or compiled any data on them. Individuals were only ever referenced in much broader coverage reports which used publicly available media to summarise the public views on certain policies, or identify potential disinformation trends.”
