April 13, 2025 | In a recent interview, Taylor Owen warned that Canada’s online media environment is more fragile and susceptible to manipulation than ever before. As trust in journalism declines, he explained that political support for far-right parties abroad often backfires, making Canadian politicians cautious. He highlighted the challenges of detecting foreign interference on platforms like Twitter, especially without strong transparency laws such as the failed Online Harms Act.

Conspiracy theories alleging that Hurricane Milton was geo-engineered and was directed to hit areas with a concentration of Republican voters are rife on social media platforms and there are concerns that this is hindering disaster relief efforts. Here is an expert from McGill University who can provide comment on this issue:

December 7, 2022 | The independent and non-partisan office that administers Alberta's provincial elections is recommending legislative changes to address misinformation and disinformation. Mathieu Lavigne, a senior researcher at the Centre for Media, Technology, and Democracy has been researching misinformation during elections and stated that better education about how elections work is crucial in reducing the spread of misinformation and increase trust in the election process. 

In disinformation campaigns, like the long-standing pro-Kremlin campaign targeted at Ukraine by the Russian government, who is most at risk of believing false information? A study led by McGill University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that Ukrainians who engaged in more analytic thinking were less likely to believe the pro-Kremlin disinformation, even if they were generally pro-Russia.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE