Our submission to the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee Inquiry
- David Babbs
- Feb 24, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: Feb 26, 2025
Clean Up The Internet submitted evidence to the UK Parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, which is conducting an inquiry into social media, misinformation, and harmful algorithms, prompted in part by the riots which took place across England last summer. Our evidence to the inquiry has now been published on the committee website, and can be viewed here.
Our evidence draws on an earlier report, which we produced in the aftermath of the summer riots, and earlier research into the role of fake and anonymous accounts in spreading conspiracy theories, fuelling hate and abuse, and enabling fraud. It sets out the role of fake and anonymous in spreading false information and hateful and inflammatory content, and how the use of fake/anonymous accounts interacts with the use of other platform functionalities, including recommender algorithms and AI.
Different functionalities on social media platforms are often used in combination, including when they are exploited to do harm. Thus bad actors using fake accounts to seed and spread false and inflammatory content may use AI to create a greater volume of higher quality content. And thus inauthentic engagement from fake accounts can influence recommender algorithms, leading to inflammatory content being further amplified.
The committee’s inquiry is an important and welcome opportunity for parliamentarians to examine the way in which different platform functionalities are exploited by bad actors, how a “safety by design” approach could help, and the extent to which the Online Safety Act will help. We will be following the inquiry with interest.
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This is a really important and timely submission, especially given how quickly online harms, misinformation, and algorithmic influence are evolving. It’s encouraging to see serious attention being given to platform accountability and safer digital design. Discussions like this are essential for shaping a healthier internet for everyone. In the same way that industries like custom woven patches rely on trust and design integrity, digital spaces also need thoughtful regulation to ensure safety, transparency, and user protection without limiting open communication.
This submission highlights important concerns around misinformation, fake accounts, and harmful algorithmic amplification on social media platforms. It explains how bad actors often combine fake profiles, AI-generated content, and engagement manipulation to spread false or harmful narratives at scale. The discussion also supports a “safety by design” approach and evaluates how the Online Safety Act may help address these risks.
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Really interesting and timely submission, especially the point about how fake accounts, AI-generated content, and recommendation algorithms can reinforce each other instead of acting as separate problems. The “safety by design” approach mentioned here feels particularly important because tackling harmful content after it spreads is already too late in many cases.
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