The children’s advocate also shared her perspective on the thin line between autocracy or dictatorship and democracy, stating that it was much thinner than she had previously imagined. A children’s rights advocate and lockdown critic revealed that she had been censored on social media and monitored by the government’s Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU). The CDU had compiled a “pages-long list” of information collected on her, which came as a shock to her.
Speaking to NTD’s Lee Hall for the “British Thought Leaders” programme, UsForThem co-founder Molly Kingsley expressed her surprise at the extensive material that had been gathered about her. Some of the content collected on her since the end of 2020 was deemed by her as “not disinformation” but included opinions and factual evidence from her parent network.
In January 2023, Big Brother Watch released a report revealing that the CDU had been monitoring online criticism of lockdowns, opposition to COVID-19 passes, and dissent towards mass vaccination policies, flagging content to social media platforms. MPs and journalists, including notable names like David Davis MP and Peter Hitchens, were targets for monitoring. Ms. Kingsley submitted subject access requests after forming UsForThem following the initial school closures in May 2020.
During the pandemic, Ms. Kingsley noted that her and UsForThem’s social media accounts faced censorship, with suppressed posts and declining follower numbers. She also observed decreased mainstream press coverage for their organization. She pointed out that the criticism of bad policy led to censorship, rather than having a debate about the policy itself.
Reflecting on the pandemic period, Ms. Kingsley remarked that her perception of British governance had shifted, recognizing a thinner line between autocracy or dictatorship and democracy than she previously thought. She emphasized the importance of accountability in governance and expressed concerns about the normalization of government without ethics.
In November 2023, the government renamed the CDU the National Security Online Information Team, shifting focus away from pandemic-related activities to combatting deliberate misinformation from foreign states. However, critics like Toby Young viewed the rebranding as a form of disinformation. The government defended the name change, stating a more accurate reflection of the team’s remit in addressing significant national security risks.