MI5 chief: Web giants must stem tide of lies

INTERNET giants have an ‘ethical responsibility’ to prevent hostile states such as Russia spreading a ‘torrent of lies’ online, the head of MI5 said.

In his first speech on foreign soil, Andrew Parker told EU security leaders in Berlin that ‘bare-faced lying’ had become the ‘default mode’ of the Russian state.

He said there was a ‘great deal more’ that could be done with internet providers to stop the exploitation of the web.

MI5’s director-general said Europe faced sustained hostile activity from states including Russia which was the ‘ chief protagonist’.

He said: ‘Age-old attempts at covert influence and propaganda have been supercharged in online disinformation, which can be churned out at massive scale and little cost. The aim is to sow doubt by flat denials of the truth, to dilute truth with falsehood, divert attention to fake stories, and do all they can to divide alliances.

‘Bare-faced lying seems to be the default mode, coupled with ridicule of critics.’

In his first remarks since the Salisbury attack on March 4, he added: ‘The Russian state’s now well-practised doctrine of blending media manipulation, social media disinformation and distortion with new and old forms of espionage, high levels of cyber attacks, military force and criminal thuggery is what is meant these days by the label ‘‘hybrid threats’’.’ Russia’s state media and representatives spread at least 30 different so-called explanations of the Salisbury poisonings in their efforts to ‘mislead the world and their own people,’ he said.

One media survey found that two-thirds of social media output at the peak of the Salisbury story came from Russian government-controlled accounts.

Last October, Mr Parker said he wanted internet companies to do more to stop extremists using the ‘safe spaces’ on the web to learn bomb-making techniques.

Yesterday’s keynote speech was the first time he has called on web giants to do more. ‘We are committed to working with them as they look to fulfil their ethical responsibility to prevent terrorist, hostile state and criminal exploitation of internet carried services: shining a light on terrorists and paedophiles; taking down bomb making instructions; warning the authorities about attempts to acquire explosives precursors.

‘This matters and there is much more to do,’ he added.