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Whitehall ‘disinformation’ unit this week revealed to have flagged ‘concerning’ narratives about asylum seekers during Southport riots
A Whitehall “disinformation” unit used tools created to hunt for jihadists to find critics of asylum hotels, The Telegraph can reveal.
The secretive team was this week revealed to have flagged “concerning” narratives about migrants to tech platforms during the Southport riots.
The disclosure prompted the Trump administration and US congressmen to warn of a free speech crackdown in Britain.
The Telegraph can now reveal that some of the tools used by the National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT) were originally developed to hunt terrorists.
In 2017, ministers commissioned Faculty, an AI firm, to help search for recruitment videos posted by Isil.
At the time, use of the technology was strictly limited to stopping British social media users from encountering grisly beheading videos and calls to commit acts of terrorism.
The firm developed tools that could automatically spot Islamic State content spreading online, so it could be flagged to tech companies by the Government.
The Telegraph has established that the platform is a direct descendant of the tool used by the UK Government to hunt for terrorists in 2017, although it has since been improved and updated.
A video released by Faculty shows Matt Collins, the current UK deputy National Security Adviser, explaining that the tool was required to prevent the spread of terrorist ideology.
A Whitehall “disinformation” unit used tools created to hunt for jihadists to find critics of asylum hotels, The Telegraph can reveal.
The secretive team was this week revealed to have flagged “concerning” narratives about migrants to tech platforms during the Southport riots.
The disclosure prompted the Trump administration and US congressmen to warn of a free speech crackdown in Britain.
The Telegraph can now reveal that some of the tools used by the National Security and Online Information Team (NSOIT) were originally developed to hunt terrorists.
In 2017, ministers commissioned Faculty, an AI firm, to help search for recruitment videos posted by Isil.
At the time, use of the technology was strictly limited to stopping British social media users from encountering grisly beheading videos and calls to commit acts of terrorism.
The firm developed tools that could automatically spot Islamic State content spreading online, so it could be flagged to tech companies by the Government.
‘Counter disinformation data platform’
The same firm has since been awarded a £2.3m contract to develop a “counter disinformation data platform” to look for posts that pose a “national security and public safety risk”.The Telegraph has established that the platform is a direct descendant of the tool used by the UK Government to hunt for terrorists in 2017, although it has since been improved and updated.
A video released by Faculty shows Matt Collins, the current UK deputy National Security Adviser, explaining that the tool was required to prevent the spread of terrorist ideology.
