UK to Establish National Centre to Counter Foreign Disinformation and Deepfakes

LONDON — British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans to establish a National Centre for Information Defence to counter foreign disinformation, deepfakes and other information attacks targeting the United Kingdom.

The announcement came during Burnham’s address to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he said the new centre would be tasked with detecting, attributing and disrupting hostile information operations by foreign powers.

The centre is expected to bring together British intelligence agencies, law enforcement bodies and social media companies to strengthen the country’s ability to respond to information warfare and improve public resilience against misleading online content.

Burnham specifically identified Russia as a major source of what he described as foreign information operations. He alleged that Russian agencies have used bots, fabricated websites, falsified newspaper articles and forged the branding of British organisations to spread disinformation and influence public opinion.

The British prime minister also alleged that Russian-linked actors had sought to amplify far-right narratives and that the UK had evidence of attempts to interfere in the 2019 general election. Russia has rejected such allegations.

Burnham warned that advances in artificial intelligence could significantly increase the scale and sophistication of information attacks, particularly through the production and distribution of deepfakes.

He also linked societal resilience to economic and social conditions, saying people facing financial difficulties and young people outside employment, education or training could be more vulnerable to online manipulation.

According to Burnham, the UK intends to share its experience in countering information attacks with other countries, particularly as more elections take place across Europe. Britain has previously supported Moldova in efforts to strengthen protections against foreign interference, he said.

The announcement forms part of the British government’s broader effort to strengthen national resilience against cyberattacks, foreign interference and AI-enabled threats while promoting international cooperation on artificial intelligence security and standards.