Editing Psychological warfare (section)

===United Kingdom===
The British were one of the first major military powers to use psychological warfare in the First and Second World Wars. In the current [[British Armed Forces]], PsyOps are handled by the tri-service [[Defence Intelligence and Security Centre|15 Psychological Operations Group]]. (See also [[MI5]] and [[Secret Intelligence Service]]). The Psychological Operations Group comprises over 150 personnel, approximately 75 from the regular Armed Services and 75 from the Reserves. The Group supports deployed commanders in the provision of psychological operations in operational and tactical environments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.mod.uk/15psyops/index.htm  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620154544/http://www.army.mod.uk/15psyops/index.htm  |archive-date=20 June 2006  |title=15 (UK) Psychological Operations Group |publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] |access-date=23 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/psychological-ops-group |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702002020/http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/psychological-ops-group |archive-date=2 July 2010 |title=Psychological Ops Group |publisher=Royal Navy |access-date=28 May 2013}}</ref>

The Group was established immediately after the 1991 [[Gulf War]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jolly |first=Stephen |date=October 2000 |title=Wearing the Stag's Head Badge: British Combat Propaganda since 1945 |journal=Falling Leaf |issue=170 |pages=86–89 |editor-first=David |editor-last=Minshall |issn=0956-2400 }}</ref> has since grown significantly in size to meet operational requirements,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.psywar.org/psywar/reproductions/15POG_Annual_Report_2008.pdf |title=15 (United Kingdom) Psychological Operations Group: Annual Report |publisher=15 (UK) PSYOPS Group|access-date=29 May 2011}}</ref> and since 2015 has been one of the sub-units of the [[77th Brigade (United Kingdom)|77th Brigade]], formerly called the Security Assistance Group.<ref name=GuardJan15>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/31/british-army-facebook-warriors-77th-brigade|title=British army creates team of Facebook warriors|author=Ewan MacAskill|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=31 January 2015|access-date=31 January 2015}}</ref>

In June 2015, NSA files published by [[Glenn Greenwald]] revealed details of the [[JTRIG]] group at British intelligence agency [[GCHQ]] covertly manipulating online communities.<ref>Greenwald, Glenn and Andrew Fishman. [https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/22/controversial-gchq-unit-domestic-law-enforcement-propaganda/ Controversial GCHQ Unit Engaged in Domestic Law Enforcement, Online Propaganda, Psychology Research]. ''The Intercept''. 22 June 2015.</ref> This is in line with JTRIG's goal: to "destroy, deny, degrade [and] disrupt" enemies by "discrediting" them, planting misinformation and shutting down their communications.<ref name="NBCFeb14">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/snowden-docs-british-spies-used-sex-dirty-tricks-n23091|title=Snowden Docs: British Spies Used Sex and 'Dirty Tricks'|date=7 February 2014|publisher=[[NBC News]]|access-date=7 February 2014}}</ref>

In March 2019, it emerged that the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) of the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) is tendering to arms companies and universities for £70M worth of assistance under a project to develop new methods of psychological warfare. The project is known as the human and social sciences research capability (HSSRC).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/13/uk-military-mod-universities-research-psychological-warfare-documents|title=UK military turns to universities to research psychological warfare|first=Damien|last=Gayle|date=13 March 2019|access-date=13 March 2019|website=Theguardian.com}}</ref>