The launch of a misinformation advisory committee by Ofcom as part of the Online Safety Act has been condemned by fact checkers as watered down.
The Online Information Advisory was officially launched on Monday as a committee to advise the media watchdog on its work relevant to misinformation as it prepares to use new legislation to tackle harmful digital content.
The committee has been planned for months, however, the decision from Ofcom to change its previous name – the Advisory Committee on Disinformation and Misinformation – has sparked concerns from British charity Full Fact, which works to identify and combat inaccurately published material.
According to the group, the decision to change the name suggests a capitulation to the Trump administration, for which the terms misinformation and disinformation have “fallen out of favour”.
“The football results are online information – so are recipes for cupcakes. This committee is supposed to focus specifically on the harm done by disinformation and misinformation, and removing those words from its name is not a promising start,” said Full Fact chief executive Chris Morris.
“We hope this is not in response to changing political circumstances, and that it will not be reflected in the important work the committee needs to do.”
Morris said he understood the “sensitivities of Ofcom’s position” but warned it must not “shirk its responsibilities”.
UKTN has contacted Ofcom for comment.
Full Fact previously criticised the rebranding of the government-appointed AI Safety Institute to the AI Security Institute for suggesting a shift from transparency to existential dangers.
Ofcom has been rolling out a handful of new policy measures this month as the Online Safety Act comes into force. Last week the regulator set out its child safety measures to prevent minors from accessing harmful content.
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