Social media makes spread of disinformation easy and risk of foreign influence high, making fact-checking important during federal election

Canada needs a new approach to detect, expose and neutralize disinformation in both the short- and long-term, say leading experts.

In the shadow of U.S. tariffs, reviving pipeline projects has been up for discussion in this federal election campaign, even in Quebec, where opposition has been strong in the past. So how did Montreal go from the city where half a million people marched for climate action, to a place where the environment seems barely on the ballot?

With little regulation and a massive active audience, social media is a hotbed for information manipulation during an election. CBC’s Farah Nasser goes to the Media Ecosystem Observatory to find out what to watch for in your feed in the weeks ahead.

We’re a few weeks into a federal election that is currently too close to call. And while most Canadians are wondering who our next Prime Minister will be, my guests today are preoccupied with a different question: will this election be free and fair?

As the election campaign ramps up, what kind of misinformation and disinformation is spreading online? We talk to Aengus Bridgman, one of Canada’s leading experts on misinformation.

Taylor Owen is the Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics, and Communication at McGill University and the host of The Globe and Mail’s Machines Like Us podcast. Helen A. Hayes is a PhD candidate at McGill University, and a senior fellow at the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy.

Rattrapage du vendredi 4 avril 2025

Liberal Leader Mark Carney is pledging an initial funding boost of $150 million for CBC/Radio-Canada as part of a new mandate to expand local news and emergency coverage. Carney also pledged to make future funding subject to approval from Parliament and not just the government’s cabinet

Entrevue avec Mathieu Lavigne, chercheur affilié à l’observatoire de l’écosystème médiatique à McGill sur la désinformation en ligne

Letters from four social-media companies to Elections Canada outline their platforms’ content and political advertising policies and in some cases also defend their approaches. The platforms are also partnering with Elections Canada to provide voting information to Canadians – a move researchers called positive.

Conservative advocacy group Canada Proud is dominating the discussion of the federal election on Facebook and Instagram as the Meta-owned platforms continue to block the sharing of all news content in Canada.

Aengus Bridgman joins the Law Bytes podcast to talk about the state of the major platforms in Canada in 2025, how our information ecosystem is vulnerable to misinformation, and what we should be doing about it.

Canada’s 45th federal election campaign is in full swing, and information is coming at us fast and furious. But look out: Disinformation isn’t far behind. The threats of fake news, deepfakes and foreign interference infiltrating your social media feed have never been higher. What should you watch out for and what can you do about it?

Élections fédérales : Les risques d’ingérence étrangère plus élevés que jamais

Canadians are in the midst of a federal election at a time when they can’t access news on the most popular social media platforms — and as U.S. President Donald Trump’s ally Elon Musk uses his own platform to meddle in the politics of other countries.

Dans la semaine qui a précédé le déclenchement des élections, les principaux partis politiques fédéraux ont acheté pour plus de 900 000 $ de publicité à Meta, une entreprise américaine qui interdit le partage de vraies nouvelles sur ses plateformes, mais qui permet la prolifération de fausses nouvelles.

Opening Segment (0:56); Disinformation from abroad is a real danger in a race where Canada-U.S. mistrust is high. (17:44); GoFundMe campaign seeks support for appeal of Preston Springs condo proposal (35:49); Living Retired (53:35); Annual Highland Ball returns to Cambridge Armoury (1:11.28); KWAG 'Culture Talk' shines a light on placemaking and social infrastructure (1:20.24); The Flipside (1:29.37); It's the 12 o'clock Talkback Hour! (1:49.38)

Today on the phone-in: We hear from listeners about the issues they're most concerned about in this federal election. Our guests are political scientist Jamie Gillies from UNB and Aengus Bridgman from McGill University.

Disinformation from abroad is a real danger in a race where Canada-U.S. mistrust is high. Here’s what the cyber threats might look like