In an interview with the Today programme about the government’s plans for a National Centre for Information Defence, Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, said it was needed to help people “to separate fact from fiction”. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing The Guardian.

According to Streeting, the new centre will not target domestic political dissent.

He said: “What we need to do is not just better co-ordination at the centre of government, but the better mobilisation of the whole of society. And that’s supporting the public to separate fact from fiction, and to be able to discern the legitimate, real BBC, or indeed legitimate, real British universities, from the fake and the manufactured. That is extremely challenging in the new world of AI.”

Streeting also noted that come the next general election, it will be hard to discern the real versions of politicians and BBC presenters from the artificial versions.

The National Centre for Information Defence is a new government initiative to counter disinformation. According to the defence secretary, the centre’s goal is to counter false information in the information space and ensure the information security of society.

Streeting’s statement may be seen as a response to concerns that the government could use the new centre to restrict citizens’ freedom of speech. However, the defence secretary clearly stated that the centre will not target domestic political dissent.

The development of AI technologies increases the risk of false information spreading in the information space. In this situation, governments are forced to take new measures to ensure information security. The UK government’s plan to create a National Centre for Information Defence is one manifestation of this trend.

Streeting’s interview on the Today programme took place as part of a discussion of the government’s information policy and its plans to combat disinformation. The defence secretary stressed that the centre’s work will be aimed at helping the public distinguish genuine sources of information from fake ones.

According to him, in the new world, especially as AI technologies develop, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish genuine information from false information. This problem is relevant not only to the UK but to the whole world.

The creation of the National Centre for Information Defence is an important step in the field of information security. It is aimed at coordinating the government’s efforts to combat disinformation and increasing public trust in the information space.

Streeting’s statement reflects the need to maintain a balance in the government’s information policy: on the one hand, it is necessary to combat disinformation, and on the other, to respect citizens’ right to freedom of speech and expression of political views.

The defence secretary’s words are aimed at countering criticism that the government might try to control the information space through the new centre. He stressed that the centre’s main task is to help the public distinguish genuine information from false information.

Overall, the UK government’s plan to create a National Centre for Information Defence can be seen as a response to new challenges in the field of information security. This initiative is aimed at increasing public trust in the information space and countering the spread of disinformation.