A Post-COVID-19 Digital Bretton Woods | Project Syndicate
April 17, 2020 | The digital age has completely disrupted global governance. Now that COVID-19 has disrupted nearly everything else, it is time to start planning for what comes next, say Max Bell School professor Taylor Owen and Rohinton P. Medhora.
COVID-19 is helping to unite Canadians like nothing has in years — and we'll need unity for what's to come | CBC News
April 9, 2020 | Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic stands in marked contrast to that of the United States, and the crisis seems to be helping to unite Canadians like no other event in years. Read what Peter Loewen, Taylor Owen and Derek Ruths had to say.
Let’s face the facts: To ensure our digital rights, we must hit pause on facial-recognition technology | The Globe and Mail
February 14, 2020 |Rapid advances in facial-recognition technology have the potential for vast social consequences. In response to the scale and speed of these developments and the clear potential for harm, a movement has emerged to ban facial recognition. In this op-ed, Max Bell School professor Taylor Owen and Nasma Ahmed call for the need to move ahead with caution and deliberation, highlighting the urgency for regulatory frameworks.
Federal government warning of voter coercion, foreign election interference through private messaging services | CBC News
February 9, 2020| The federal government is worried about the risk of voter coercion and foreign election interference through private messaging services — a concern that could pit the right to privacy and free expression against Canada's election laws.
Taylor Owen on deepfakes | CBC The National
January 7, 2020 | There are serious concerns about how Facebook will police deepfake videos. Max Bell School professor Taylor Owen talks about why these sophisticated videos need editorial oversight.
19 million Canadians have had their data breached in eight months
September 2, 2019 | An estimated 19 million Canadians have been affected by data breaches between November 2018 and June 2019, according to numbers obtained by "Attention Control with Kevin Newman," a new podcast that launched Monday. The numbers come from 446 breaches that were reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). Victims of these kinds of data breaches are vulnerable to identity theft, financial crime, even violence in some cases.
Canadian polarized, but social media use likely not the culprit: study
September 12, 2019 | Social media might not be to blame for Canadians’ ideological polarization, a new report on digital democracy in Canada finds. “A lot of people don’t use social media very actively,” said Eric Merkley, a researcher on the project. “People on Twitter are not representative of the broader population.”
Fake news preys on emotions, expert warns
August 10, 2019| Beware of things you see online that make you emotional, one media expert warns ahead of the fall election. Taylor Owen, professor at McGill University and the co-creator of the Digital Democracy Project, says fake news often preys on feelings like anger and fear.
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Canadians' media-consumption habits lead to misinformation, study finds
August 7, 2019 | Canadians aren’t as divided into partisan echo chambers as social media would suggest, but a heavy news diet doesn't guarantee you'll be informed, a new study has found.
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Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge Winners Announced
The Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge has awarded 18 Research Awards ranging from $3,000 to $75,000 to research teams from Canada and abroad. The Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge is a collaborative effort between Dr. Taylor Owen, Associate Professor in the Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University and Dr. Elizabeth Dubois, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and a Centre for Law, Technology and Society Faculty Member at the University of Ottawa.
Canadians' media-consumption habits lead to misinformation | National Observer
August 7, 2019 | A report published by the Digital Democracy Project suggests that overall misinformation levels in Canada are low. However, certain trends in media consumption put news consumers and voters more at risk to be misinformed about key political issues.
People with strong partisan views get more facts wrong on a current events test: survey | Global News
August 8, 2019 | A survey launched by the Digital Democracy Project found that most Canadians across the political spectrum got a common set of facts from an array of mainstream media outlets. The report also highlighted voters' tendencies to select and consume news from sources that support their political beliefs, generating so-called echo chambers.
Canadians who hold strong links to political parties more likely to be misinformed about politics | The Star
August 8, 2019 | The Digital Democracy Project, an initiative of Max Bell School of Public Policy in collaboration with the Public Policy Forum, analyzes the increasing amounts of disinformation and hate in the digital public sphere. A new study shows the links between political affiliation and misinformation.
News that's safe to use: Researchers aim to track information during campaign | CBC News
August 8, 2019 | In an age where information is increasingly scrutinized yet more easily diffusable than ever, Canadians might be more misinformed than disinformed. New findings from the Digital Democracy Project show how information ricochets around the Canadian political landscape.
Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge Launched ahead of 2019 Election
Dr. Taylor Owen, holder of the Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media and Communications received, with Dr. Elizabeth Dubois (University of Ottawa), a Canada History Fund grant to run the Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge. They have launched a call for proposals for projects examining the uses and impacts of digital media in the 2019 Canadian Federal Election.
