The Online Information Advisory Committee will advise Ofcom on areas of its work relevant to misinformation and disinformation.  

The committee is required under the Online Safety Act, which was passed in October 2023. Ofcom is implementing the legislation in stages, with the codes of practice for the protection of children coming into force in July 2025.

As the independent regulator of online safety, Ofcom is responsible for outlining the steps online platforms should take to fulfil their safety duties in codes of practice, and has powers to assess and enforce compliance with the framework. 

The regulator has appointed five new members to the committee:  

• Elizabeth Costa, chief of innovation and partnerships at research and innovation consultancy the Behavioural Insights Team, and senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics
  
  
• Jeffrey Howard, professor of political philosophy and public policy at University College London, director of UCL’s Digital Speech Lab, and senior research associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI at Oxford University
  
  
• Will Moy, chief executive of social science research network the Campbell Collaboration, and a visiting senior research fellow at the Policy Institute at King’s College London
  
  
• Mark Scott, senior resident fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab’s Democracy + Tech Initiative within the Atlantic Council Technology Programs, and former correspondent for Politico and the New York Times
  
  
• Devika Shanker-Grandpierre, thematic panel member for the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation, and a contributing author to the Global Network on Extremism and Technology.

Each new member will serve a three-year term, beginning on 1^st May.

Ofcom previously announced that Lord Allam, non-executive member of the Ofcom board, will chair the committee.