Head of Policy (Data and Digital Technologies), The Royal Society

Areeq's team at the Royal Society focuses on how artificial intelligence and other data-driven technologies can, and should, be used to benefit humanity.

Areeq is also a Labour Party Councillor for Canning Town, in East London, and founded the influential technology policy think tank, WebRoots Democracy, which ran between 2014 and 2020. He has authored various reports on digital democracy, social media, and artificial intelligence. Most notably, Areeq led a high profile project on disinformation during the 2019 UK General Election, producing viral deepfakes of Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn endorsing each other for Prime Minister.

Areeq holds a BSc in Economics and Political Science from the University of Birmingham. His career history includes working at: the Foreign Office; the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; the UK Parliament; London City Hall; and KPMG.