50
Rejected
By design, malign actors conduct foreign interference in a covert and obfuscating manner, including on...
Recommendation
By design, malign actors conduct foreign interference in a covert and obfuscating manner, including on social media platforms. We are concerned that the National Security Act 2023 foreign interference offence, which is critical in combatting malign activity online, is limited due to the need to establish that it is a foreign power behind the disinformation. We believe this makes the offence unworkable in practice and are concerned that social media companies may use the complexities of attribution to minimise their compliance. The Government should ensure that the foreign power condition does not create a loophole allowing hostile state-backed influence operations to evade enforcement. (Conclusion, Paragraph 230)
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees, stating the National Security Act 2023 is carefully designed and needs time to be robustly tested. They note a live case may clarify its operation and will review legislation, working with Ofcom on platform duties under the Online Safety Act.
Government Response
Rejected
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
Disagree. The National Security Act 2023 provides law enforcement and the intelligence agencies with the tools they need to deter, detect and disrupt modernday state threats, including foreign interference. The Foreign Interference Offence which the Act introduced has been carefully designed to target malign activity carried out for, on behalf of, or intended to benefit a foreign power that seeks to undermine the interests of the UK, our institutions, political systems, or rights and freedoms. As the Act was introduced in 2023, it is still relatively new. Consequently, the powers it contains, including the Foreign Interference Offence, have not yet been robustly tested. There is a live case currently before the courts which should help clarify how these operate in practice, enabling evidence-based judgements on their efficacy. The Government keeps all legislation under review and will carefully consider how the Online Safety Act and National Security Act interact as they are enforced. This includes working closely with Ofcom on the implementation of platform duties on Foreign Interference Offence content under the Online Safety Act, where we continue to explore how relevant information could be shared to support Ofcom in ensuring its codes are iterative and reflective of the evolving evidence base. It is also important to note that platforms’ responsibilities under the Online Safety Act only require them to have “reasonable grounds to infer” content is Foreign Interference in order to tackle it, which is a lower standard than the criminal threshold required for the offence under the National Security Act.
Source
Committee
Foreign Affairs Committee
Report
4th Report - Disinformation diplomacy: How malign actors are seeking to undermine democracy
27 Mar 2026
HC 703
Addressee Bodies
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Timeline
Recommendation age
0.3 yrs
Report published
27 Mar 2026