The Russia connectionBritish government’s new “anti-fake news” unit has been tried before – and it got out of hand

By Dan Lomas

Published 26 January 2018

The decision to set up a new National Security Communications Unit to counter the growth of “fake news” is not the first time the UK government has devoted resources to exploit the defensive and offensive capabilities of information. A similar thing was tried in the Cold War era, with mixed results. Details of the new anti-fake news unit are vague, but may mark a return to Britain’s Cold War past and the work of the Foreign Office’s Information Research Department (IRD), which was set up in 1948 to counter Soviet propaganda. This secretive government body worked with politicians, journalists, and foreign governments to counter Soviet lies, through un-attributable “grey” propaganda and confidential briefings on “Communist themes.” IRD eventually expanded from this narrow anti-Soviet remit to protect British interests where they were likely “to be the object of hostile threats.” IRD’s rapid expansion from anti-communist unit to protecting Britain’s interests across the globe also shows that it’s hard to manage information campaigns. Moreover, government penny pinching on defense – a key issue in current debates – could also fail to match the resources at the disposal of the Russian state. In short, the lessons of IRD show that information work is not a quick fix. The British government could learn a lot by visiting the past.

The decision to set up a new National Security Communications Unit to counter the growth of “fake news” is not the first time the UK government has devoted resources to exploit the defensive and offensive capabilities of information. A similar thing was tried in the Cold War era, with mixed results.

The planned unit has emerged as part of a wider review of defense capabilities. It will reportedly be dedicated to “combating disinformation by state actors and others” and was agreed at a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC).

As a spokesperson for U.K. prime minister Theresa May told journalists: “We are living in an era of fake news and competing narratives. The government will respond with more and better use of national security communications to tackle these interconnected, complex challenges.”

Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee is currently investigating the use of fake news – the spreading of stories of “uncertain provenance or accuracy” – through social media and other channels. The investigation is taking place amid claims that Russia used hundreds of fake accounts to tweet about Brexit. The head of the army, General Sir Nick Carter, recently told the think-tank RUSI that Britain should be prepared to fight an increasingly assertive Russia.

Details of the new anti-fake news unit are vague, but may mark a return to Britain’s Cold War past and the work of the Foreign Office’s Information Research Department (IRD), which was set up in 1948 to counter Soviet propaganda. The unit was the brainchild of Christopher Mayhew, Labor MP and under-secretary in the Foreign Office, and grew to become one of the largest Foreign Office departments before its disbandment in 1977 – a story revealed in the Guardian in January 1978 by its investigative reporter David Leigh.

This secretive government body worked with politicians, journalists, and foreign governments to counter Soviet lies, through un-attributable “grey” propaganda and confidential briefings on “Communist themes.” IRD eventually expanded from this narrow anti-Soviet remit to protect British interests where they were likely “to be the object of hostile threats.”