Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans for a "National Centre for Information Defence" to counter online disinformation, which he attributes largely to Russian interference exploiting division since Brexit. The initiative has immediately sparked controversy, with critics dubbing it a "Ministry of Truth" and fearing it will be used to silence legitimate political dissent rather than combat genuine foreign disinformation campaigns. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting was forced to issue reassurances that the unit would not police domestic political criticism, whilst Reform leader Nigel Farage accused the Government of targeting his party rather than addressing economic concerns.

Civil liberties organisations, particularly Big Brother Watch, have pointed to a troubling pattern with previous government disinformation units, citing evidence that the Counter Disinformation Unit, Rapid Response Unit, and other bodies have been used to flag and censor lawful speech critical of the Government, including from MPs, journalists and human rights campaigners. The Government intends the centre to operate with intelligence agencies, police and social media companies, whilst also considering measures to force platforms such as Meta and Alphabet to prioritise "pre-approved trusted news sources." Mr Burnham told the UN General Assembly that Russia had mounted an "industrial-scale assault" on Britain's information environment since the 2016 referendum.