To combat the escalating threat of AI-driven disinformation and hostile state interference, the UK government has announced the creation of the National Centre for Information Defence.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham unveiled the new initiative yesterday during his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

According to Burnham, the core problem facing the UK stems from an escalating wave of sophisticated online manipulation. Hostile actors are increasingly deploying automated bots, fake websites, falsified news articles and forged branding from trusted British organisations to distort public discourse.

With the rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence, experts warn that the sheer scale, speed, and realism of automated deception – including hyper-realistic deepfakes – threaten to overwhelm traditional moderation and public awareness.

The newly established centre aims to tackle this threat head-on by uniting intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and major social media companies under a single coordinated banner. Its primary mission is to detect, attribute and disrupt foreign information attacks before they can destabilise public trust, while simultaneously bolstering societal resilience against digital falsehoods.

Industry experts have welcomed the announcement while emphasising the need for robust technological countermeasures. Andrew Bud, Founder and CEO of biometric verification company iProov, stressed that the centre’s success will rely on active disruption rather than passive detection.

“Deepfakes are becoming too sophisticated and too scalable for the government to rely on individuals or platforms simply spotting fake content after the fact,” Bud noted. He urged the government to into its core defensive strategy to safeguard digital authenticity.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, highlighted the critical social dimension of the crisis, pointing out that digital inequality can leave vulnerable populations exposed to manipulation.

Anderson argued that true national resilience requires embedding digital inclusion, media literacy and accessible support into government infrastructure. “If we build new systems without addressing the digital inequalities that already exist, we risk creating resilience for some while leaving others exposed,” she warned.

By combining cross-sector intelligence sharing, technological authenticity checks and widespread public empowerment the new centre hopes to fortify the UK against the growing threat of modern information warfare.

For latest tech stories go to TechDigest.tv