Disinformation overload on the federal election campaign: expert

Experts warn to keep an eye out for misleading and false information online related to the federal election.

With less than two weeks to go until Canadians cast their ballots, social media experts are predicting an influx of disinformation will build as the election approaches.

From deepfakes to AI-generated content, one researcher is calling this federal election Canada’s first generative AI election and that means voters need to be more alert to misinformation and disinformation than ever.

“It is becoming increasingly challenging for the average person to figure out what’s true and what’s not,” said Anatoliy Gruzd, director of research at the Social Media Lab.

The rise of generative AI has made it easier – and faster – to create misleading content. With this week’s English and French leaders’ debates set to play out, it will give bad actors plenty of content to manipulate and spin false narratives, said Gruzd.

“The actors who want to produce that content will have to be very quick so we’ll see a lot of “shallow fakes” but they still work,” said Gruzd.

Shallow fakes aren’t quite as sophisticated as deep fakes but they can still be effective in duping the public.

“There’s definitely a lot more explicitly deceptive content and there’s a lot more openly partisan content and I think it’s important for people to reflect upon what they are looking for in the news,” said Matthew Johnson, director of education at MediaSmarts, a federal agency that’s been developing digital media literacy programs and resources since 1996.

Still, those who rely heavily on social platforms for their news are the most at risk.

“They’re more likely to be exposed to mis-and-disinformation,” said Gruzd. “And they are more likely to believe in it.”

So how do you break the fake? Johnson says, do a quick fact-check, and seek out and verify the source on the information and check that against other sources or trusted new outlets.

And if it seems suspicious, it probably is, so don’t share it.