Andy Burnham has announced plans for a new "National Centre for Information Defence" to fight so-called "disinformation" as he blamed Russia for "amplifying far Right narratives", prompting fresh fears for free speech. GB News has more.
The Prime Minister, addressing the United Nations, announced the centre to improve "community cohesion" and prevent a "distorted and untrue narrative about Britain".
He has ordered security chiefs to set up the quango, which will detect, attribute and disrupt "hostile information attacks" and "deepfakes" which hurt British interests.
It is initially being led out of the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with the new centre working alongside intelligence agencies, Government departments, the police and social media firms.
He told the UN there was no "national security without a strong, cohesive society".
"That's the starting point for everything we hold dear and everything we want to achieve," he added.
"But the fact is that it has been under attack."
Burnham then accused Russia of engaging in a "industrial-scale assault by hostile actors on the information environment".
He added that Vladimir Putin's men had used "every means at their disposal to spread lies and disinformation and prey on people's fears".
"They've used bots and fake websites," the Prime Minister said. "Falsified newspaper articles and forged the branding of 28 British organisations – including universities and the BBC.
"They've amplified far Right narratives. And we have evidence that they tried to interfere with the 2019 General Election."
Russia has previously been accused of using illicitly-acquired documents about UK-US trade talks to try to influence the 2019 vote.
Burnham also claimed Moscow tried to "stoke tensions and unrest in the wake of horrific events", describing the actions as "repulsive".
"In fact, Trump has already spoken out against these kinds of regulations, which will be used, of course, to control freedom of speech."