• Launches counter-propaganda war

As more nations expel Russian diplomats over the nerve gas attack on an ex-spy in Britain, London is gearing up for an all-out counter-propaganda war against ‘fake news’ being spread by Moscow and terrorists on social media.

Ministers have ordered a major fightback amid fears over the wave of misinformation and extremist material being distributed online, Reuters said. A new ‘Fusion Doctrine’ aims to tackle the evolving threats from states such as the Kremlin and North Korea as well as groups like Islamic State militant group which use social media and cyber sabotage as part of their offensive capabilities.

Launching the new National Security Strategy, Prime Minister Theresa May said the government would mobilise “every capability at our disposal” to address threats. Security services could take measures including “suffocating” hashtags on Twitter to prevent extremists from getting their message out.

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The BBC World Service could also be given a wider remit to promote British values abroad, while Ofcom could target media organisations that merely produce propaganda.

Meanwhile, Moscow’s embassy in London underlined the nature of their tactics by accusing the United Kingdom of behaving like the Nazis towards Russian nationals. Whitehall sources said the aftermath of the nerve-agent attack in Salisbury had shown how important it was to combat propaganda.

Russia had put out more than 20 different stories following the incident “to try to confuse the picture”, they said. Up to 2,800 Russian bots computer programmes that generate posts on social media are also thought to have tried to sow confusion after the poison attack. In an example of the new response, the Foreign Office issued a rebuttal video online earlier this month that pointed out the contradictory claims coming from the Kremlin. 

Moscow’s embassy in London tweeted yesterday comparing Britain’s treatment of Russians to the Nazis treatment of Jews. “Targeting all dirty money or just people of a particular nationality? The former is welcome though long overdue, the latter went out of fashion in 1945,” the embassy posted.