Government's response to fake news report 'disappointing', says committee

The government’s response to a July report on combating ‘fake news’ has been “disappointing” so far, according to parliament's committee for digital, culture, media and sport.

The DCMS committee was put to the task of investigating disinformation and fake news following the data scandal involving Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.

Of 42 recommended measures in the report the government has accepted just three, rejecting four outright and giving no response to nine others, including calls for the creation of a code for advertising on social media during election periods.

Damian Collins, chair of the committee, which compiled the report, accused the government of hiding behind “ongoing investigations” to delay tackling the spread of “harmful and misleading content” through social media.

“We need to see a more coordinated approach across government to combat campaigns of disinformation being organised by Russian agencies seeking to disrupt and undermine our democracy. The government’s response gives us no real indication of what action is being taken on this important issue,” said Collins.

Other measures recommended by the report that have seen a rejection or no response include plans for education on ‘fake news’ funded my social media companies, calling on Facebook and other platforms take responsibility for the way their platforms are used and an audit of the advertising market to identify fake accounts major social media sites.

“We will be looking for the government to make progress on these and other areas in response to our final report which will be published in December. We will also be raising these issues with the secretary of state for DCMS, Jeremy Wright, when he gives evidence to the committee on Wednesday this week,” said Collins.

The report was leaked before its planned release by Dominic Cummings, the director of the official Brexit campaign group Vote Leave, who had been summoned to take part in the inquiry and dismissed the report itself as “fake news”.