Difference between revisions of "Sarah Connolly"
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According to a 9 June 2023 report in the ''Daily Telegraph'': | According to a 9 June 2023 report in the ''Daily Telegraph'': | ||
| − | :The identity of the head of the CDU was a mystery, but it can now be disclosed that Ms Connolly, a career civil servant, led it throughout the pandemic and remains in charge. | + | :The identity of the head of the CDU was a mystery, but it can now be disclosed that Ms Connolly, a career civil servant, led it throughout the pandemic and remains in charge. She previously worked on anti-terror policies for the Home Office, but had already joined the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) when it started monitoring Covid disinformation under [[Oliver Dowden]]’s leadership. |
| − | She previously worked on anti-terror policies for the Home Office, but had already joined the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) when it started monitoring Covid disinformation under Oliver | ||
:It is unclear if other, more senior ministers were involved in the CDU. There is growing speculation that the unit may have links to the intelligence services, but the Government has repeatedly refused to give certain details about it for “national security” reasons. | :It is unclear if other, more senior ministers were involved in the CDU. There is growing speculation that the unit may have links to the intelligence services, but the Government has repeatedly refused to give certain details about it for “national security” reasons. | ||
:In remarks to MPs, unearthed by the Telegraph, Ms Connolly laid bare the extent of the Government’s influence over social media. | :In remarks to MPs, unearthed by the Telegraph, Ms Connolly laid bare the extent of the Government’s influence over social media. | ||
| Line 14: | Line 13: | ||
When asked about the CDU’s process for having posts removed, Ms Connolly said: “If somebody from the cell says: ‘We are worried about this,’ that goes immediately to the top of the pile. Whoever it is in whatever company.” | When asked about the CDU’s process for having posts removed, Ms Connolly said: “If somebody from the cell says: ‘We are worried about this,’ that goes immediately to the top of the pile. Whoever it is in whatever company.” | ||
:The Government confirmed last night that social media firms had taken action on more than 90 per cent of the posts referred to them by the CDU during the pandemic, often by deleting them or using algorithms to ensure they were not seen as widely. | :The Government confirmed last night that social media firms had taken action on more than 90 per cent of the posts referred to them by the CDU during the pandemic, often by deleting them or using algorithms to ensure they were not seen as widely. | ||
| − | Ms Connolly described the CDU as a “cell” within Government, using the same systems as those in place to stop terrorist content spreading online. | + | :Ms Connolly described the CDU as a “cell” within Government, using the same systems as those in place to stop terrorist content spreading online. |
| − | She said one of its “big” functions was “talking to social media platforms and passing information over. It gets information back from them, and encourages that swift takedown – the swift dealing with the platforms. The cell has daily interactions with almost all the platforms”. | + | :She said one of its “big” functions was “talking to social media platforms and passing information over. It gets information back from them, and encourages that swift takedown – the swift dealing with the platforms. The cell has daily interactions with almost all the platforms”. |
:She is also named on documents obtained by this newspaper as the chair of the [[Counter-Disinformation Policy Forum]] – a group that operated for six months during the pandemic, which included a member of BBC staff, alongside tech companies, academics and lobby groups. | :She is also named on documents obtained by this newspaper as the chair of the [[Counter-Disinformation Policy Forum]] – a group that operated for six months during the pandemic, which included a member of BBC staff, alongside tech companies, academics and lobby groups. | ||
| − | Ms Connolly told MPs that the forum was designed to take the “sometimes hourly” contact of the CDU with tech companies and “raise it to the next level”.<ref name="Tel"/> | + | :Ms Connolly told MPs that the forum was designed to take the “sometimes hourly” contact of the CDU with tech companies and “raise it to the next level”.<ref name="Tel"/> |
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
Revision as of 09:15, 7 January 2026
Sarah Connolly was head of the Counter Disinformation Unit formally based in the during the Covid Pandemic and at least until 9 June 2023.[1]
According to a biographical note, which fails to mention her role at the Counter Disinformation Unit:
- Sarah Connolly is Director for Security and Online Harms in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Sarah joined the Department in July 2016, from the Middle East, where she was an independent consultant. Prior to that Sarah worked in the Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office on a range of security and counter-terrorism policies. Sarah also served as a Senior Advisor to the US CT Ambassador. She has a MA in Human Rights and Terrorism from the University of Essex and is currently a Policy Fellow at the University of Cambridge.[2]
According to a 9 June 2023 report in the Daily Telegraph:
- The identity of the head of the CDU was a mystery, but it can now be disclosed that Ms Connolly, a career civil servant, led it throughout the pandemic and remains in charge. She previously worked on anti-terror policies for the Home Office, but had already joined the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) when it started monitoring Covid disinformation under Oliver Dowden’s leadership.
- It is unclear if other, more senior ministers were involved in the CDU. There is growing speculation that the unit may have links to the intelligence services, but the Government has repeatedly refused to give certain details about it for “national security” reasons.
- In remarks to MPs, unearthed by the Telegraph, Ms Connolly laid bare the extent of the Government’s influence over social media.
- Ms Connolly told MPs that the CDU was in contact with “almost all” social media platforms, and that discussions were “daily, sometimes hourly”.
When asked about the CDU’s process for having posts removed, Ms Connolly said: “If somebody from the cell says: ‘We are worried about this,’ that goes immediately to the top of the pile. Whoever it is in whatever company.”
- The Government confirmed last night that social media firms had taken action on more than 90 per cent of the posts referred to them by the CDU during the pandemic, often by deleting them or using algorithms to ensure they were not seen as widely.
- Ms Connolly described the CDU as a “cell” within Government, using the same systems as those in place to stop terrorist content spreading online.
- She said one of its “big” functions was “talking to social media platforms and passing information over. It gets information back from them, and encourages that swift takedown – the swift dealing with the platforms. The cell has daily interactions with almost all the platforms”.
- She is also named on documents obtained by this newspaper as the chair of the Counter-Disinformation Policy Forum – a group that operated for six months during the pandemic, which included a member of BBC staff, alongside tech companies, academics and lobby groups.
- Ms Connolly told MPs that the forum was designed to take the “sometimes hourly” contact of the CDU with tech companies and “raise it to the next level”.[1]