The Scottish Government should appoint a commissioner for countering disinformation as part of broader efforts to tackle harmful conspiracy theories and foreign attempts to influence democracy, an MP has said.
Stewart McDonald, the SNP’s spokesman for defence at Westminster, has published a briefing paper setting out his assessment of disinformation activity in Scotland.
The paper says disinformation is becoming more sophisticated and the issue is becoming more relevant due to the pandemic.
READ MORE: Scots voters targeted in online Iranian 'disinformation’ election campaign to break up UK
It notes attempts by Iran to influence the 2014 independence referendum through an unsophisticated online influence campaign, warning similar attempts may intensify in the run-up to any future independence referendum.
Mr McDonald’s report also says Russia has been an “active disinformation actor in Scotland since at least 2014”.
Foreign powers have spread misninformation online, the report concludes
Russian “trolls” are now attempting to sow doubt over Western-made coronavirus vaccines, the SNP MP says.
The report states: “Scotland faces a range of disinformation actors who make use of a large and evolving toolbox of techniques to influence and corrupt the Scottish information ecosystem.
“There is no panacea for this problem.”
READ MORE: Did Iran’s cyber trolls score a victory with fake pro-independence propaganda?
It adds: “However, homegrown and domestic disinformation crises must not be discounted: conspiracy theories like QAnon or those related to the Covid-19 pandemic pose just as severe a threat to our national security and illustrate the urgent need to build national information resilience.”
The report makes nine recommendations to help counter disinformation, including a dedicated commissioner and an audit of the Scottish information ecosystem.
It further recommends introducing targeted information literacy programmes and anti-disinformation events, as well as media “surgeries” where people can learn about how journalists work.
Mr McDonald said: “I hope this report encourages some deep and cross-party thinking on the issue, and encourages politicians and civil society groups to work together and help Scotland build robust information resilience that is fit for the modern age.”
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