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UK National Centre for Information Defence

UK National Centre for Information Defence

Prime Minister Andy Burnham used his first United Nations General Assembly speech to announce a new UK body aimed at detecting, attributing and disrupting foreign information attacks. The UK National Centre for Information Defence will focus on hostile-state disinformation and AI-enabled deepfakes that the government says damage British interests and social cohesion.

The announcement was made in New York on the 22nd September 2026. Andy Burnham said security chiefs had been tasked to begin the work.

The UK National Centre for Information Defence will initially sit in the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet Office and is expected to work with the intelligence agencies, government departments, the police and social media companies.

Remit of the UK National Centre for Information Defence

According to the government, the UK National Centre for Information Defence will:

  • Detect, attribute and disrupt information attacks by foreign powers, many of them enabled by artificial intelligence
  • Build defensive capability against information warfare
  • Help communities identify and counter disinformation
  • Prevent what ministers call a “distorted and untrue” narrative about the United Kingdom

Andy Burnham framed the threat as an “insidious campaign that reaches into people’s homes and twists what they feel about their own country and community – creating a narrative of decline, stoking division and sowing despair.” He added that national security depends on a “strong, cohesive society.”

Why Russia was singled out

The prime minister named Russia as a principal actor. He said the Kremlin spends around £1.3 billion a year on information manipulation and has used “every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people’s fears.”

Examples cited in the speech and subsequent reporting included:

  • Bots and fake websites
  • Falsified newspaper articles
  • Forged branding of 28 British organisations, including universities and the BBC
  • Amplification of far-right narratives
  • Alleged attempts to interfere in the 2019 general election
  • Efforts to stoke tensions after major incidents

Andy Burnham also said people struggling with the cost of living, and young people not in education, employment or training, may be more vulnerable to this kind of influence. The UK intends to share its experience with other countries; Moldova was mentioned as a previous example of UK support against Russian election interference.

Who are the “security chiefs”?

Andy Burnham did not name individuals. In Whitehall language, “security chiefs” usually means the senior national-security and intelligence leadership rather than a newly published board.

That group typically includes:

The National Centre for Information Defence is described as a coordinating and operational effort that will sit with those agencies and other partners. No public organogram or named leadership team has been released; the announcement is only hours old.

Political and free-speech reaction

Supporters, including Foreign Affairs Committee chair Emily Thornberry, have called the centre a response to a previously “disjointed” government approach to disinformation.

Critics have warned of an “Orwellian” quango that could slide from countering foreign operations into policing domestic narratives.

The Free Speech Union

Labour has said the focus is hostile-state activity and that free speech will not be the target.

What is not yet known about the UK National Centre for Information Defence ?

Because the body has only just been announced, there is still no official website, budget figure, statutory basis, staffing plan or detailed operating model.

Counter Disinformation Data Platform (CDDP)

Check out our related articles on the Free Speech and the Law, Free Speech Union, Rule of Law, Open Justice, Policing by Consent, Is the Law Black and White ? and the highly questionable Sussex Family Justice Board.

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[post_title] was last updated on the 23rd September 2026

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