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Bursting the party conference filter bubble

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Information Environments Party Conference Trusted Technology

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With a sigh of relief at Demos Digital, party conference season is finally over and with it, its own information ecosystem. To burst what can feel like a filter bubble, here are my top takeaways (not the canapes, sorry). 

This year, we and the Epistemic Security Network focused on a singular easy and measured question we’re grappling with – how can we save democracy from information chaos? 

You’ll be delighted to know: we’ve cracked it. Or at least here are some nibbles:

1. Information infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure

Both panels recognised that information in our democracy should be treated as critical resources or utilities, much like energy, water or transport.  It is essential to the functioning of our society. Its compromise could severely impact the delivery of essential services and the functioning of the state and therefore deserve protection.  And yet much like our water supply as a nation …

2. “We’re in a pickle.” 

The consensus across both Conservative and Labour panels is that the UK’s information supply is not only polluted, but potentially poisonous. With references to the global landscape of escalating Russian disinformation and the US President attributing autism to paracetamol, to the collapse of local news ecosystems and generative AI providing further layers of abstraction from original publishers, and to the abuse and harassment experienced by MPs online, the urgent need to improve the health, quality and civility of information spaces used for democratic debate was widely acknowledged.

3. The majority of the public are worried about threats to our digitised information infrastructure

Patrick English, Head of Political Analytics at YouGov, shared recent YouGov/ Demos data (Sep 2025) that highlights the extent to which the public also shares these concerns about our information spaces. 

  • 65% are worried about social media algorithms using your background data to decide which content to show you
  • 71% are worried that foreign states are seeking to influence UK democracy using social media networks and;
  • 77% are worried about fake videos, ‘deep fakes’, of candidates and MPs appearing online.

Patrick, Head of Political Analytics at YouGov, commented – “we don’t usually see results with numbers this high”.

But, how do we respond to these worries? 

4. Multi-faceted problems need multi-faceted solutions

How we regulate information spaces, including how we regulate the platforms and technology that facilitate them, divided both our panelists and the public. YouGov/ Demos data indicated that 60% of the public are worried about “free speech being limited by regulations put on social media companies and their algorithms.” This proportion falls to 44% among Labour voters, but increases to 76% among Reform voters. 

Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP for Oxford East, stressed the importance of not misdiagnosing the problem as a free speech issue emphasising its distinction from hate, harassment and intimidation. She shared observations of how online behaviour was spilling out into our offline playgrounds – damaging relationships between not just children, but parents at the school gates. To tackle the scale and depth of the challenge, she stressed the importance of international coordination, including working with EU partners with shared values, in order to respond to the significant transnational challenges we face, particularly the partnership of the international authoritarian right with certain big tech actors. 

Gaia Marcus, Director of Ada Lovelace Institute, reflected on how public appetite for regulation of AI in particular has increased over time. She noted from a separate study that this year, 72% of the public say that laws and regulations would increase their comfort with AI technologies – an increase from 62% in the 2022/2023 survey (see results here). Matt Warman, former Minister for Disinformation in the Conservative government, whilst acknowledging the “irrefutable need” for regulation, particularly recognising social media platforms as “irresponsible publishers”, also stressed the importance of a principles-based approach as the unintended consequences of bad regulation could be just as negative as the challenges we face today. 

When tackling the divisive impact of engagement-based algorithms, Matt also guarded against focusing exclusively on the prominence of ‘the right voices’ or ‘the right information’ on platforms and instead emphasised the importance of returning to a diverse and pluralistic information supply. However, Azzurra Moores, Policy lead at Full Fact, emphasised that there are times that call for expert voices – pointing to our need to hear from scientists and doctors during the pandemic, and the importance of the coordination and visibility of accurate, critical public information on social media platforms during crisis moments.

Kirsty McNeill, Labour MP for Midlothian underlined the importance of not misattributing problems as solely technological. She emphasised the foundational issues we face as a citizenry in our polarisation and that we all need to do the hard work of improving our relationships and behaviour with one another, not just online, but offline too. 

5. So, it’s up to the teachers

In the face of ongoing difficulties determining the right interventions to solve such systemic, complex challenges, discussions turned to education and what can be done to support young people and our teachers to navigate the disordered information environment we’re all wading through. Shuab Gamote, co-author of upcoming research, ‘Inside the Mind of a 16 year old’, cautioned against what he described as a sterile environment for students in schools, where young people feel discouraged from having honest conversations with their teachers and some teachers feel fearful, unsupported and poorly equipped to navigate such discussions safely. 

Whilst the upcoming Curriculum Review may have answers for us, or our children at least, we’ll be hosting a discussion for the Epistemic Security Network on the 19th November at Demos to explore how we can strengthen ‘whole-society media literacy’ – not just in our schools, but through other avenues via tech regulation, broadcasting and other information infrastructure.  We’ll be joined by Helen Hayes MP, Chair of the Education Select Committee, Peter Hyman, former advisor to Starmer and Blair who will be discussing fresh research, ‘Inside the Mind of a 16 year old’, and Prof Julian McDougall, Chair of the Media & Information Literacy Alliance who will also be sharing a research and policy briefing. 

If these topics and events interest you, sign-up to our Epistemic Security Network to receive invites to our events as well as our latest research and thinking on solutions that could stick. 

A huge thank you to all of our speakers across both of our party conference events this year for sharing their expertise with us.  

You can watch both events back using the links below:

  • Labour Party Conference: Kirsty McNeill MP, Anneliese Dodds, Shuab Gamote (Co-author of upcoming research, ‘Inside the Mind of a 16 year old’). Watch it yourself here.
  • Conservative Party Conference: Matt Warman (former Minister for Disinfo), Azzurra Moores (Full Fact), Gaia Marcus (Ada Lovelace Institute), Patrick English (YouGov). Watch it here.