iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Today’s speech Manchester Uni. Why online disinformation is the wrong diagnosis, and why emotional manipulation is the better way of approaching the online domain and its many threats to national security: terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/u...

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Commercial self-interest and free speech norms. Does anyone want to disagree with or comment on this passage for my final draft terrorism report (footnotes omitted and apologies for small text)?

242

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Any improvements you can suggest - I agree there is a lot of noise hence the attempt

000

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Also linking my State Threat report published yesterday in case of interest - it is quite technical but I hope measures and inquisitive about how law does and might work: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69411a...

022

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

What does the UK Online Safety Act actually do? I've tried to summarise in a neutral one-pager for interested members of the public (OFCOM's website is very complex). That's the goal. Suggestions for improvements (to the one-pager, not the Act!) gratefully received.

223

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Independent review on Separation Centres after HMP Frankland attack. Views welcome on attached issues paper

121

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

To which the British retort might be: disinformation can have an impact on the battlefield. At the moment this feels like an unbridgeable divide…/ends

020

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Even then, will tech companies operating under First Amendment decide to remove because of British squeamishness? Vice President Vance might say, and he has a point where low trust in institutions, why would you let a tech company or regulator decide what is disinfo?…/6

110

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

And assume it has capacity to remove adapted disinformation as bad actors respond to moderation efforts…/5

110

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Where tech companies must remove content amount to foreign interference as a *priority offence*. Even if assume tech company has capacity to identify a foreign link, not just commercial click-bait (major assumption)…/4

110

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

…under section 13 National Security Act 2023. But in the real world they will be untraceable and abroad, which points to need for prevention. Enter the Online Safety Act 2023…/3

110

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

For sake of argument, assume Russia had a plan. If Russian operatives used X/Twitter to try to influence UK political leaders in their decision-making that would be foreign interference triable in the UK…/2

110

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

President Zelenskyy’s comments that President Trump is living in a disinformation space created by Russia exposes a key national security fault line between US and Europe if you believe online content is not just fluff…/1

132

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Danyal Hussain (Satanism), Jake Davison (incel beliefs), Mohammed Al Swealmeen (Liverpool Women's Hospital), the Northallerton teenagers (Columbine plot), Gotterdammerung teenager (mass shooting plot), Thomas Huang (school hammer attack), Damon Smith (unexploded tube bomb)…/2

120

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Grateful for suggestions for recent UK edge-cases, not categorised as terrorism but intuitively on the cusp. Although relevant to the definitional question ("What is terrorism"), these are of course real cases resulting in death or serious injury, so a solemn task. As starter…/1

230

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

My op-ed in Weekend FT on definition of terrorism and practical solutions after Southport

040

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

J Rowe QC's independent reviews of terrorism legislation for 1997 and 1998 are now on my website under this link: terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk/category/rep...

000

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

But also how platforms will deal with organic ie normal human-distributed viral content that happens to be false and is used to drive violence or is calculated to have interference effect…/ends

000

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

The question I have on fact-check demise is whether these capabilities of scanning for coordination will be canned…/9

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

However State Threat actors can also amplify true information - eg true details of a terror attack - to suggest Broken Britain…/8

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

But in practice Meta has major capabilities for spotting ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour’ on its platforms - think Russian controlled bot farm putting out and amplifying disinformation…/7

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Net effect of removing fact-checking but not moderation could make it relatively easier than before for online foreign interference…/6

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Of course this is crude because some content that encourages terrorist violence could have strong truth value eg reporting from warzone…/5

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

But moderation meaning removal is about content-status rather than truth value: is it badged propaganda from proscribed terror group, or encourages violence?…/4

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Since fact-checking is truth evaluation, its removal means in principle more disinformation (though Zuckerberg right about risk of human fact-checking bias) and therefore greater risk of state exploitation…/3

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Both terrorism content and foreign interference content are now priority illegal content under Online Safety Act in the UK…/2

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Meta: fact-checking (being removed) versus content moderation (here to stay) means *what* for terror and state threats?…/1

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Basis for my comments in today’s Times on feasibility of return from Syria camps is in my 2023 paper Risk and Response here: terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/u...

terrorismlegislationreviewer.independent.gov.uk

000

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Any difficulty that done online? Not at all - NSA 2023 very much designed to deal with online interference (see Explan Notes para 150, example (3) in context of anti-vax posts)…/ends

000

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

….or (longer term) to “interfere with how any person participates in relevant political processes (i.e. voters in forthcoming local election)…/7

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

As to “interference effect”, this would seem to be made out if purpose to “affect the exercise by any person of their public functions” (influence MPs to vote for public enquiry)…/6

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

It would be morally reprehensible to play with accuracy like this, but enough for a crime? …/5

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Note that bumping up against considerations of free speech here - what if just being rhetorical, using striking formulation to convey overall sense of cover-up (EM entitled to this view in a free country)…/4

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Under s15, potential candidate for prohibited conduct would be “misrepresentation”, e.g. express or implied statement that Tommy Robinson imprisoned for exposing grooming gangs (a falsehood), if intended to be “material to the interference effect”…/3

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Short point is - unless EM is doing this for, on behalf of, or for the benefit of a foreign power, then no. But interesting to look at other 2 limbs, “prohibited conduct” and “interference effect” as if work of e.g. Russia-backed troll farm…/2

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

By his statements on grooming gangs/ Tommy Robinson, is Elon Musk involved in the crime of foreign interference under the National Security Act 2023?…/1

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

And, how will OFCOM, which has a mega-job of work, monitor compliance and non-compliance? This is all technical stuff: but I hope journalists, NGOs, pressure groups, parents, general public, can get a sense of how this is working (or not)…/ends.

020

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Or go large and remove more, just in case it offends UK law?…/4

200

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

My questions are: How realistic is it to expect international tech platforms, many with skeleton technical crew/ no lawyers, to understand subtleties of UK terrorism legislation? I assume not - so will tech companies stick with current terms and conditions?…/3

200

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Will legal duties have impact on willingness to detect and remove - and commit resources to systems to do this - terrorism content?…/2

100

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Look out for March 2025. Supremely interesting and important date when UK law (Online Safety Act, incorporating many elements of terrorism legislation) comes into contact with tech reality…/1

116

Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and State Threat Legislation @terrorwatchdog.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Since Reuters (Nic Newman, 17.6.24) reports that X (and I assume BlueSky) has good reach for journalists but not general public, and as an experiment, am now posting short reels on Instagram (terrorwatchdog) - just done short one on radicalisation (Magdeburg/New Orleans) /ends.

000