Let’s take the opportunity of a General Election to prioritise honesty and accuracy

In addition to our crucial work fact checking the general election, Full Fact also campaigns for changes to make bad information rarer and less harmful. This election is an opportunity to improve the quality of public debate, restore trust in politics, and mitigate the worst aspects of the online misinformation that causes societal harm. As someone interested in the work of Full Fact, we hope that you feel the same way: we encourage you to challenge the candidates you come across during the election campaign on these issues - whether it’s on your doorstep or at a local hustings.

Change cannot come soon enough. According to research conducted by Ipsos UK for Full Fact, a majority of the UK public (71%) is concerned that voters will be misled by false or misleading claims in the upcoming election campaign.

Our policy calls for the new government and parliament are split into three themes: what happens during the election period, the behaviour of politicians once elected, and our longer-term vision for a society better able to combat misinformation. During the election campaign we will continue to hold politicians to account for what they say and how they say it.

We are calling for the following commitments:

1. Protect democracy during an election period 

• Candidates should run honest and transparent campaigns so that everyone can make an informed decision on polling day.

• Political parties should commit to being honest in their campaign materials and not use deceptive campaign practices. 

• Political parties should commit to using AI transparently and responsibly.

2. Politicians must lead by example

• Once elected, politicians should improve public debate: get their facts right, back up what they say with evidence, and correct their mistakes.

• The next government’s Ministerial Code should be made statutory, and require ministers to use public data responsibly.

• The next Parliament must improve its mechanisms to ensure that MPs who fail to behave honestly are held to account.

3. Strengthen society’s resilience to misinformation

• The next government should strengthen online safety legislation to counter harmful misinformation - especially relating to health or when generated by AI.
• Fact checkers are on the frontline in this fight: the next government must ensure that fact checkers have timely access to data from online platforms and search engines about misinformation on their platforms.

• The next government must increase resources for media literacy to give the public the skills to tackle misinformation. 

Good information really matters in a healthy democracy, and it's never been more important to campaign for honesty and accuracy in politics, and in wider public debate. Full Fact will do that throughout this election campaign. And we will keep doing it for the launch of the next parliament and beyond. With your help we can have an even bigger impact!

Sign up to hear more about our work, and to find out more from us on these topics over the course of the election period. Meanwhile you can read in more detail about all of these issues, and more, in the Full Fact Report 2024.