UK Faces Escalating Information Warfare from Hostile States, Cooper Warns

The UK stands on the frontline of a sophisticated information war as hostile states deploy increasingly advanced disinformation campaigns, interference tactics, and cyber threats against British interests, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper will warn in a London speech today.

Cooper plans to highlight the alarming trend of malign actors flooding social media with doctored videos specifically designed to undermine international support for Ukraine. These coordinated campaigns are part of a broader pattern of election meddling and attempts to sow division within democratic societies.

“Across Europe we are witnessing an escalation in hybrid threats – from physical through to cyber – designed to weaken critical national infrastructure, undermine our interests and interfere in our democracies all for the advantage of malign foreign states,” Cooper is expected to tell her audience.

The Foreign Secretary will outline how technological advancements have dramatically lowered barriers for state-sponsored disruptors, enabling less skilled operatives to achieve significant impact through digital manipulation. This represents a dangerous evolution from earlier eras when such influence operations required sophisticated skills to forge documents or plant stories in traditional media.

“Today’s technology is lowering the barrier to entry – meaning more actors, with less skill, can work on behalf of regimes abroad,” Cooper will explain. “They can interfere with free and fair elections, so that Western interests are weakened and lose allies on the global stage.”

Recent events provide concrete examples of these tactics in action. During Moldova’s elections, investigators uncovered fake websites and advertisements promoting false policies—such as purported plans to raise the retirement age and extend mandatory military service—designed to manipulate voters and destabilize the democratic process.

Ukraine has been a particular target of sophisticated disinformation operations. Russian-linked entities have created and distributed doctored videos featuring President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena through fake news sites, particularly targeting audiences in African nations where they hope to erode international support for Ukraine.

Intelligence agencies have identified Russian operations targeting the UK directly, attempting to flood British social media with counterfeit documents and deepfake material. Similar campaigns have targeted French and German audiences, indicating a coordinated approach to undermining Western European unity.

“By flooding social media with generative AI and manipulated videos, they can gradually undermine support for our major allies like Ukraine with lies – hitting our collective resolve to support Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s illegal invasion,” Cooper will warn.

The Foreign Secretary is also expected to address how foreign states attempt to exploit sensitive domestic issues within the UK to create social division and political instability. Cooper will emphasize that while topics such as migration, gender, and climate change naturally generate robust debate among British citizens, these conversations should not be weaponized by foreign actors.

“This isn’t about legitimate debate on contentious issues. Plenty of people in the UK have strong views on migration, gender and climate,” Cooper will say. “But they are our debates to have – not those for foreign states to use as their playground, trying to sow division to advance their own interests.”

As part of her address, Cooper will unveil new counter-measures designed to expose and disrupt these threats against UK interests. The speech, marking the anniversary of the post-World War One Locarno Treaties, represents the Labour government’s evolving strategy to protect British democracy from increasingly sophisticated digital threats.

Security analysts note that as the war in Ukraine continues and global tensions rise, the UK’s position as a key supporter of Ukrainian independence makes it a primary target for information warfare from hostile powers, particularly Russia. The government’s new initiatives will need to address not only current threats but prepare for the rapidly evolving landscape of AI-powered misinformation.