Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Not Addressed
Latin America’s information environment is becoming increasingly contested, with foreign actors seeking to exploit regional...
Conclusion
Latin America’s information environment is becoming increasingly contested, with foreign actors seeking to exploit regional divisions and anti-US sentiment. When combined with social media companies’ limited moderation capacity in Spanish and Portuguese, the risk of anti-democratic interference increases. (Conclusion, Paragraph 134)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response discusses concerns about digital replicas and a forthcoming consultation on their potential harms, failing to address the committee's conclusion regarding the information environment in Latin America.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
Partially Agree. The global information environment is becoming increasingly contested. The information threats we face do not respect borders – the same malign actors employ similar tactics to target the UK and our international partners alike. Responding to this challenge requires close coordination with partners across regions to identify malign information activity, tackle the networks responsible for this activity at source, and to strengthen our collective resilience. The FCDO has therefore been scaling up our response across geographies most affected by this activity. The Government has so far prioritised action to tackle Russian FIMI targeting the UK and our European partners, in particular Ukraine, given the acuteness of the threat of Russian information warfare. However, the FCDO is also engaged in strengthening resilience to hostile information activity in Latin America. This includes utilising our internal analytical capabilities to monitor and identify FIMI activity in the region, alongside engagement with regional partners to strengthen their resilience to information threats. For example, the UK has funded civil society initiatives to strengthen media literacy and fact-checking skills, so organisations can spot false narratives and support democratic debate. The UK has likewise engaged directly with governments in the region to raise awareness of the threat. This Government remains steadfast in our commitment to countering and reducing the impact of hostile information activity affecting our partners. We agree to update the Committee through a verbal briefing session on our international approach to monitoring, diplomatic engagement, and resilience building efforts in response to FIMI.
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