Experts warn Canadians about misinformation on social media amid election campaign

FILE - People talk near a Meta sign outside of the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., March 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Canadians are heading to the polls in less than a month to choose the country’s next federal government, but there’s a significant challenge: many can’t access news on the social media platforms they rely on.

This issue is fuelling concerns over misinformation, disinformation, and the accuracy of information voters are consuming.

The upcoming election is the first since Elon Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X, and since Meta, Facebook’s parent company, blocked Canadian news content from its platforms. These changes have deepened worries about how voters will receive reliable information.

Experts warn that the loss of access to news on popular platforms is undermining Canadians’ ability to make informed decisions.

“We’re in the industrial revolution of innovation, and technology has created many double-edged swords,” media and tech analyst Mohit Rajhans said in an interview with CTV News Channel Saturday. “Meme culture has turned into video culture through synthetic videos, and misinformation can spread without anyone realising it’s not authentic. Anybody can now create synthetic media at the push of a button.”

Meta’s news ban continues to limit access to critical political content just when it’s needed most.

“Canadians haven’t had access to Canadian news sources on Meta’s platforms for the past two years,” Rajhans says, adding that at the same time Meta is building AI related tools which makes it easier for people to make and post content online.

While social media giants acknowledge the presence of misinformation, experts argue that these companies aren’t doing enough to combat the issue.

“All the major social media apps are acknowledging that there is misinformation and harmful content,” Rajhans says. “People are also becoming more comfortable with expressing their true opinions online, which can be problematic.”

Rajhans urges Canadians to be more cautious about their information sources.

“We need to talk to our families and make sure they understand that if they’re in a WhatsApp group chat, for example, they may not be getting the full picture,” he says. “Synthetic media and AI have infiltrated social media to the point where, if something seems unbelievable, it probably isn’t true.”

With files from the Canadian Press