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Disinformation

Question for Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

UIN HL7005, tabled on 29 April 2025

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision to rename Ofcom's Advisory Committee on Disinformation and Misinformation the "Committee for Online Information"; and whether the Committee will still have the remit of tackling misinformation.

Answered on

14 May 2025

Ofcom and its advisory committees are independent of government. The name of the advisory committee is therefore a matter for Ofcom.

The Online Safety Act makes the Committee’s role clear. The Act mandates that the Committee must advise the regulator on how providers should address mis- and disinformation on their services. It also requires them to advise Ofcom on exercising their transparency powers and fulfilling their statutory duty to promote media literacy in relation to mis- and disinformation. These duties remain unchanged and will be the focus of the new Online Information Advisory Committee.