Posting this the other side of NYE as in this age of disinformation 2026 is going to be a critical year for democracy in the UK. Please have a read of the thread below and see how you can help. We'd appreciate a share to spread the word.

🧵With a new Elections Bill expected early next year, the UK faces a once in a generation opportunity to modernise election rules that have barely changed for decades. If this moment is missed, it may not come again for a long time. Read about our campaign's progress below and how you can help. 👇

"‘Undermines free speech’: Labour MP hits back at US government over visa ban on UK campaigners @chionwurah.bsky.social speaks out" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Marcus Ball spoke in a question at our event 'preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning' about a “new offence under the Hillsborough Law called misleading the public”. Hear him and @jennifernadel.bsky.social from @compinpolitics.bsky.social discussing it.

Rather than testing ads and content we are going to see a lot more of this. Testing AI generated people for engagement. This account has 11 "if flags offends you" message variants .. some calling for a "general election now". Although made in the UK? www.tiktok.com/@alexfreire89

An email from Reform just landed in our inbox. Not misleading advertising ... but a different form of election advertising perhaps (and / or fundraising)? A signed limited collector's shirt signed by Nigel Farage. A snip for £349. + £1 mandatory lottery entry fee.

Long haul: independent inquiry on overseas interference 4 years after publication of Digital Gangsters.

So much to investigate; so much to take forward - urgently.

How encouraging ... the government is finally launching an inquiry into foreign election interference. This was a call made by @iancolinlucas.bsky.social at our recent House of Commons event on preventing disinformation in campaigning. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

"With the US threatening to support ‘patriotic’ parties here, we need better defences" @pollytoynbee.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The EU is getting serious about transparency. ec.europa.eu/commission/p... "Lack of transparency of X's ads repository X's advertisement repository fails to meet the transparency and accessibility requirements of the DSA (Digital Services Act".

Media literacy is an important tool in countering disinformation but how effective can it be on its own? Green MP @elliechowns.bsky.social speaks at our recent HoC event on the need to regulate misleading election ads. Listen to the whole event. reformpoliticaladvertising.org/listen-to-ou...

"X has blocked the European Commission from making adverts on its platform - a move which comes a few days after it fined Elon Musk's site €120m (£105m) over its blue tick badges." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Listen to our House of Commons event ahead of the Elections Bill "preventing disinformation in campaigning" on Spotify, Apple, Youtube 👉 reformpoliticaladvertising.org/listen-to-ou... Incl Lord Puttnam, @elliechowns.bsky.social Green, @justinmadders.bsky.social Labour, George Freeman Conservatives

Listen to our HoC event "preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning" on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. 👉 reformpoliticaladvertising.org/listen-to-ou... On the panel was David Puttnam, Ellie Chowns (Green), Justin Madders (Labour), George Freeman (Conservatives) & Alex Tait (RPA).

Listen to our HoC event "preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning" on Spotify, Apple or Youtube. 👉 reformpoliticaladvertising.org/listen-to-ou... On the panel was David Puttnam, Ellie Chowns (Green), Justin Madders (Labour), George Freeman (Conservatives) & Alex Tait (RPA).

What a surprise. "Many of the most influential personalities in the “Make America great again” (Maga) movement on X are based outside of the US, including Russia, Nigeria and India, a new transparency feature on the social media site has revealed." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

@jennifernadel.bsky.social from @compinpolitics.bsky.social spoke at our recent event in the House of Commons about the bill they've devised which would make deliberate factual deception by candidates an offence. Find our more about their work👇 www.compassioninpolitics.com/truth_in_pol...

"Denmark takes a stand against deepfakes... realistic digitally generated replicas of a person's personal physical characteristics, such as appearance, voice and movements, may not be made available to the public without the consent of the person being replicated." www.lexology.com/library/deta...

This Youtube scam ad was forwarded on to us. Not an election ad but as Conservative MP George Freeman pointed out at our recent HoC event you can see where this is heading for election ads. Read our recommendation for the Elections Bill below. reformpoliticaladvertising.org/ai-deception...

. @thatginamiller.bsky.social making some great points about how we can rebuild trust in our democracy at our recent House of Commons event "preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning". @appgfairelections.bsky.social @compinpolitics.bsky.social

It is hard to tell how much of a algo rabbit hole we've been drawn into investigating AI content but it seems X is riddled with AI content including conspiracy theorists making their posts more engaging.

The whole internet could do with clear labelling of AI. Comments on AI slop videos show half the people watching can't tell it's fake.

Another story today about impersonating an official ... the MoD said "impersonating a naval officer can be considered a criminal offence." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... In our AI age election content rules have never been more important.... 👇

Vigilance was never more necessary, regulation never more important. And yet neither will be adequate, not by a long way. 'Free & Fair' elections, however much of a pipedream that always was, may be a diminishing ideal in the rear view mirror. #democracy #AI #elections

"The use of AI-generated campaign videos – labeled or unlabeled – is likely to permeate future US elections" www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... @adamgabbatt.bsky.social @pippacrerar.bsky.social you may be interested in our Elections Bill proposal.👇 reformpoliticaladvertising.org/ai-deception...

The @greenparty.org.uk's @elliechowns.bsky.social discusses what she'd like to see in the upcoming Elections Bill. She is speaking after our recent cross party event in the House of Commons "preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning".

RPA's @benedictpringle.bsky.social: In the Elections Bill "it should be illegal to create or distribute digital content that falsely purports to be a political candidate (or claims to be speaking for them), with the intent to deceive voters." 👇 labourlist.org/2025/11/deep...

It was great to have Labour MP @justinmadders.bsky.social join our panel at our recent House of Commons event “Preventing Disinformation and Misinformation in Campaigning.” He made some key points about the opportunity we have with the Elections Bill to modernise the rules for our democracy.

We’re campaigning for transparency and factual accuracy in election ads - and we’re making progress. 🗳️ Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed. We only email when there’s something worth reading. 👉 reformpoliticaladvertising.org/subscribe/

"EU plans hub to tackle disinformation threat from Russia and others. Move follows ‘escalating hybrid attacks’ by Russia and other foreign powers spreading fake articles across social media" www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

Lord Puttnam has given an excellent interview in @bylinetimes.bsky.social following our event in the House of Commons last week "preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning". You can read it here. www.bylinesupplement.com/p/mistrust-i...

Hear from @greenparty.org.uks @elliechowns.bsky.social making some excellent points about what we need to see in the upcoming Elections Bill. She is speaking after our recent cross party event in the House of Commons "preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning".

We discussed at our HoC event this week widening the Online Safety Act to include harms to society and democracy. While we think about that... "Meta just made $51,242,000,000 (at an operating margin of 40%) in 92 days. This works out at about $557m EVERY day." Source: @drwilding.bsky.social

Ahead of the Elections Bill we've held a key meeting at the House of Commons on "preventing disinformation and misinformation in campaigning". Thanks for excellent contributions from David Puttnam, @elliechowns.bsky.social, Justin Madders, @iancolinlucas.bsky.social, @georgefreemanmp.bsky.social.

Really enjoyed attending this fantastic event by @reformpoliticalads.bsky.social around regulation of political advertising. And yes, that is a #LibDemBarChart in 2nd pic! Some big challenges but if parties/candidates aren’t trustworthy in campaign, we’ll never rebuild trust in politics in general.

📰 How can we tackle disinformation and misinformation in campaigning? 🚀 We'll shortly be kicking off our joint event in Parliament this evening with @reformpoliticalads.bsky.social

Packed room for extremely timely event on how to stop misinformation and disinformation in political advertising. Big shout out to @reformpoliticalads.bsky.social and @appgfairelections.bsky.social for putting this event on tonight.

“The truth matters. We need to challenge this now because otherwise it's only going to get worse.” Justin Madders on the need to go beyond a code of conduct for political campaigning in order to address disinformation @reformpoliticalads.bsky.social

Thanks for putting on this event with us @appgfairelections.bsky.social

Did someone say political advertising doesn't matter? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“Tory MP reports deepfake defection video to police… This sort of political disinformation has the potential to seriously distort, disrupt and corrupt our democracy," he added. “ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

“The ASA’s role in Local Election Advertising - Paid advertising: We will consider complaints about paid local election advertising.” No it isn’t April 1st. This is how they do it in New Zealand where elections ads have been regulated for decades. 👏👏 asa.co.nz/2025/04/28/s...

@matthew-wright.bsky.social Vital...

Thanks Anne and for your support.

This BBC undercover investigation into how a Russian disinformation operation to influence elections in Moldova was set up is worth a watch. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

@pimlicat.bsky.social apologies BlueSky is asking for age verification to dm you with face recognition! I couldn't track down your email if you could you email me @ alex(dot)tait(at)reformpoliticaladvertising.org I'd be grateful and I can send on to you from there if that is ok?

@michelap.bsky.social hello Michela, we'd like to send you an invite to an upcoming event. If you follow us we'll forward on the invite. Alex