Claims that the British army’s information warfare unit, the 77th brigade, monitored lockdown critics on social media platforms are being investigated, according to UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace.
The report found that the monitoring and reporting of critics were done under the government’s Counter Disinformation Unit in the Culture Department.
Big Brother Watch also disclosed a whistleblower testimony, which they claim confirmed the 77th Brigade collected posts on Twitter from UK citizens posting about COVID-19 and passed them to the government. The Epoch Times hasn’t been able to verify these claims or the identity of the whistleblower.
David Davis Monitored
Speaking in the Commons on Jan. 30, former Conservative Cabinet minister David Davis—who was monitored, according to Big Brother Watch—called for the issue to be reviewed, with Wallace issuing an assurance that he had already instructed for it to be looked into.“I know him well enough that when he tells us that he gave clear instructions and guidelines to the Brigade to only operate foreign powers and extremists, he was telling the exact truth,” Davis said.
“Will he however review the issue and ensure that his guidelines have been followed in all cases?”
Wallace replied that the brigade is “not to be involved in regulating, policing, or even reporting opinion that it may or may not agree with.”
“Colleagues may have read reports this weekend about activity conducted by the Army’s counter-disinformation unit in 77th Brigade,” he said.
“Online disinformation from foreign state actors is a serious threat to the United Kingdom, which is why during the pandemic we brought together expertise from ... across Government to monitor disinformation about COVID.
“77th Brigade is a hybrid unit of regular and reserve personnel that was established in 2015. It delivers information activities as part of broader military effects against hostile state actors and violent extremist organisations based outside the UK.
The 77th
Big Brother Watch claimed that the British army’s 77th, which has conducted operations against both the Taliban and al-Qaeda, collated posts on Twitter from British citizens about COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, passing them to the Cabinet Office, though it’s understood that this ended by late 2021.During COVID-19, the government used different units including the Rapid Response Unit, the Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU), and the Government Information Cell. Each had roles in “tackling harmful narratives online,” monitoring and flagging “disinformation” content to social media companies, and pushing official lines, the report stated.
The report found that the monitoring and reporting of critics were done under the government’s Counter Disinformation Unit in the Culture Department.
‘Something Is Rotten’
The report noted that author Laura Dodsworth found herself in a “Cross Whitehall Weekly Counter Disinformation Report” from June 2021 mentioning the launch of her book “A State of Fear: How the UK Government Weaponized Fear During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”Dodsworth told The Epoch Times by email that she believed that the report “vindicated some of the anonymous sources and findings published in her book.”
“Something is rotten in a state when the surveillance apparatus is turned upon the innocent civilian,” she wrote.
“In a free and democratic country, propaganda and surveillance might be turned on enemy states and terrorists, but not on the population. The justification might be the ‘war footing’ the government placed us on for a virus.”
A government spokesman said that it “did not target individuals or take any action that could impact anyone’s ability to discuss and debate issues freely.”
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