Reflections and Next Steps After "Discussing Disinformation" at the House of Lords
CCOD Political and Engagement Lead Edward Stoppard reflects on the two CCOD panel events hosted at the House of Lords, the lessons learned, and how we move forward to combat disinformation.
On Monday, the Council for Countering Online Disinformation (CCOD) — sponsored by Refute, Schillings, Egregious, and Ghost Shift — held two panel events in the House of Lords on the invitation of Lord Jim Knight. The event saw guests and speakers from across civil society, academia, policy, and government discuss the challenges and potential solutions associated with online mis- and disinformation.
The first panel discussion centred on the impact of AI on disinformation. Moderated by CCOD Founder and Executive Thomas Barton, it featured Refute CEO Tom Garnett, House of Lords member Jim Knight, Liberal Democrat MP Manuela Perteghella, and Alan Turing Institute researcher Sam Stockwell. The CCOD heard how AI detection technology pioneered by British start-ups can also be part of the solution, alongside greater legislative action.
From what was a thoughtful and engaging discussion, here are some key takeaways that stood out to the CCOD team:
AI has dramatically increased the speed, scale, and realism of disinformation, making it easy to produce and hard to detect.
Disinformation has evolved from an online safety issue into a direct threat to national security, elections, and democratic legitimacy, as foreign actors increasingly use AI tools to interfere in democratic processes through targeted and large-scale campaigns.
Existing regulation, including the Online Safety Act, is insufficient to address the scale and complexity of AI-driven disinformation. This is coupled with a widening gap between the pace of technological development and the ability of legislators to respond effectively.
A “defence in depth” strategy combining prevention, detection, disruption, and response is necessary to tackle disinformation effectively.
An ongoing AI arms race means defensive capabilities must evolve as quickly and affordably as offensive ones. Technological solutions such as content provenance tracking and verification tools are promising in this regard, but are underdeveloped.
Media literacy and critical thinking education are essential long-term tools for building societal resilience to disinformation, as AI-powered disinformation becomes increasingly sophisticated and persuasive.
Independent and empowered regulators are needed to ensure accountability while maintaining public trust.
Greater transparency, public communication, and clear protocols are required to help citizens recognise and respond to disinformation threats.
By contrast, the second panel discussion was focused on financial disinformation. Moderated this time by CCOD Board Member Dani Dhiman, the panel featured Thomas Barton; John Penrose, a former MP, minister and CCOD Board member; Cambridge academic Professor Alan Jagolinzer; and Cambridge academic and director of the Influence and Technology Lab, Professor Jon Roozenbeek. The panel discussed how and why financial disinformation manifests, the harms it can cause, and the legislative and regulatory actions needed to combat it.
As before, this was a thought-provoking and insightful conversation, which highlighted several key points for the CCOD team:
AI has amplified financial disinformation by making it faster, cheaper, more persuasive, and easier to scale. The phenomenon is not new, but with AI its economic impact is now significantly larger and more dangerous.
Disinformation can cause severe economic harm beyond fraud, including market manipulation, corporate damage, and even bank runs. The global economic cost of disinformation is extremely high and continues to grow rapidly, reaching an estimated $417 billion globally in 2024.
The UK is a key hub for disinformation infrastructure due to the low cost and high accessibility of UK SIM cards, which bad actors use to create fake UK-based accounts in SIM farms.
Financial incentives, particularly through engagement-driven platforms, fuel an “outrage economy” that rewards disinformation.
Financial and political disinformation are closely linked and often conducted by the same actors.
Businesses are widely aware of the threat of disinformation but remain largely unprepared and slow to act. Corporate leadership often avoids confronting disinformation due to either fear or lack of awareness.
A lack of clear government ownership and coordination is a major barrier to effectively addressing disinformation.
Existing anti-corruption laws and frameworks could be leveraged to tackle financial disinformation more effectively.
Regulatory approaches should focus on reducing the incentives and increasing the costs of spreading disinformation.
User empowerment tools and AI-driven monitoring systems are important for improving information accuracy and resilience. In relation to the former, governments should set clear standards for platforms to meet rather than prescribing specific technical solutions.
Media literacy and cognitive resilience need to be strengthened across both the public and the workforce to protect against financial disinformation.
We thank all attendees, our sponsors Refute, Schillings, Egregious, and Ghost Shift, Lord Jim Knight, CCOD Executive Director Thomas Barton, CCOD Board Member Dani Dhiman, as well as our panellists MP Manuela Perteghella, Tom Garrett, Sam Stockwell, Dr Jon Roozenbeek, Dr Alan Jagolinzer, and John Penrose, for making this event possible.
What this means going forward
The two panels revealed the scale of the risk posed by disinformation, which simultaneously threatens national security, democracy, society, and the economy. In the face of such a multifaceted hazard, it is critical to develop a “defence-in-depth” strategy, with overlapping policies, regulations, and innovative solutions to create a whole-of-society approach.
Clearly, more needs to be done at a legislative and educational level. That is why the CCOD is pushing a series of practical policies and interventions that the government can quickly implement to avoid the lengthy process of drafting regulations from scratch, which are at risk of being outpaced by AI. These have been recently outlined in our new position paper, Digital & Media Interventions.
In the long run, the government will have to develop a comprehensive media literacy strategy inoculating citizens against the poisonous effects of disinformation from school to the workplace. The CCOD has put forward several suggestions on this point, from a voluntary, then statutory, 1% levy on platforms to fund media literacy initiatives, to implementing a Nordic model of media literacy.
For this to work, the government must work with providers, experts, and innovators to build the scale of response required to solve the growing disinformation challenge.
Upcoming CCOD events
Together with our new partners at ShoutOutUK, we will be hosting an event at LSE to discuss the impact of disinformation on young people. A specific date and time will be confirmed shortly.
If you want to be the first to hear more and continue to be part of the discussion, subscribe!