The Defense Security Media Advisory Committee (DSMA) committee has been working with traditional media publishers such as the BBC, the Times and even the Register for many years.
If it believes that the media may publish details that threaten national security, the commission will issue a notice, known as a D notice, asking them to voluntarily withhold the details.
D The notification regime covers five core areas. Disclosure of weapons systems. activities of counterterrorism forces or intelligence agencies; Physical property and assets. Employees working in sensitive positions and their families.
DSMA and its media members have entered into a voluntary agreement. D Notifications are not legally binding, but are rarely rejected.as politiko “The persistent threat of prosecution under the Official Secrets Act and the recently enacted National Security Act gives them gravitas.”
One example in 2010 was when DSMA’s predecessor agency sent a notice to the media shortly before WikiLeaks released a vast cache of U.S. government documents.
DSMA (and other organizations dating back to 1912) have long worked with traditional media, but more recently they have also joined talks with big tech companies to control what appears on social media. I am.
“We’ve been trying to infiltrate the so-called tech giants,” said Jeffrey Dodds, DSMA Notification Director and former military diplomat. politiko. He suggested that social media companies could monitor their feeds as they would for illegal content and contact DSMA if they see anything related to a D-notice.
The commission’s efforts have so far been futile as big tech companies have refused to get involved.
Google was previously a member of DSMA Media, but left in 2013 following revelations by Edward Snowden alleging collaboration between Big Tech and Western intelligence agencies.
DSMA is not specifically a government agency. Despite this, Google felt it could not remain a member because it was “too tied to the government,” Dodds said.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport offered to introduce big tech companies in 2018, but this was halted by the Cambridge Analytica scandal. DCMS’s successor, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, has so far not undertaken a similar initiative, and DSMA’s own efforts have been fruitless.
”[Tech giants] They have no relationship with us at this time for their own reasons,” Dodds said.
But DSMA continues its efforts.
In the future, “we’ll probably see less print, more broadcast, and more social media and online.” [news], so we need to join this game. ”