Committees

Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms

Inquiry

Between 30 July and 7 August 2024, a wave of anti-immigration demonstrations and riots took place across the UK. Some targeted mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, driven in part by false claims that spread on social media platforms relating to the killing of three children in Southport.

Ofcom, the regulator, has said that illegal content and disinformation spread "widely and quickly" online following the attack, and that the riots demonstrated the role that “algorithmic recommendations” can play in driving divisive narratives in a crisis period. It said the response by social media companies to this content had been “uneven”.

The Online Safety Act 2023 tightens the law on disinformation and gives providers new duties to reduce the risk that their services are used for illegal activity, and to take down illegal content.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is launching an inquiry into the links between algorithms used by social media and search engines to rank content, generative AI, and the spread of harmful or false content online. The inquiry will examine the effectiveness of current and proposed regulation for these technologies, including the Online Safety Act, and what further measures might be needed. It will investigate the role of these technologies in driving social harms, with a particular focus on their role in the summer 2024 riots.

Read the call for evidence here:

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:59pm on 19 December 2024.

Upcoming events

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Past events

Tuesday 29 April 2025
9:00am Private
9:30am Public
Oral evidence session 29 April 2025
Innovation showcase - Oral evidence
9:30am
  • Jake Davies (Managing Director at CoolLED)
Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms - Oral evidence
9:45am
  • Mark Bunting (Director, Online Safety Strategy Delivery at Ofcom)
  • John Edwards (Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner's Office)
10:45am
  • The Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Member at House of Lords)
  • Talitha Rowland (Director for Security and Online Harm at Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 18 March 2025
9:00am Private
9:30am Public
Oral evidence session 18 March 2025
Innovation showcase - Oral evidence
9:30am
  • Professor Svetan Ratchev (Professor of Production Engineering and Director of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering at University of Nottingham)
Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms - Oral evidence
9:45am
  • Dr Karen Middleton (Senior Lecturer in Marketing at University of Portsmouth and Advisor to the Conscious Advertising Network)
  • Phil Smith (Director General at Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA))
10:45am
  • Dr Eirliani Abdul Rahman (Online Safety Advocate and Former Trust and Council Member at Twitter)
  • Lyric Jain (CEO at Logically)
Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 25 February 2025
2:30pm Public
Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms - Oral evidence 25 February 2025
2:30pm
  • Chris Yiu (Director of Public Policy for Northern Europe at Meta)
  • Ali Law (Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, UK and Ireland at TikTok)
  • Wifredo Fernandez (Senior Director for Government Affairs at X (formerly known as Twitter))
Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 25 February 2025
9:00am Private
9:30am Public
Oral evidence session 25 February 2025
Innovation showcase - Oral evidence
9:30am
  • Dr Olusola Idowu (Founder at Hexis Lab)
Social media, misinformation and harmful algorithms - Oral evidence
9:45am
  • Amanda Storey (Managing Director, Trust & Safety at Google EMEA at Google)
Room 8, Palace of Westminster

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