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A timeline of misinformation and disinformation in Canada

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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Disinformation is "false information that is purposely spread to deceive people".[1][2] Misinformation is information that is false or misleading, that contradicts consensus by experts in the field or by the "best available evidence".[3][4]

This timeline largely excludes COVID-19 misinformation in Canada and conspiracy theories related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

In January 2019, just days after publicly calling out technology giants, Prime Minister Trudeau announced the first federal financing of $7 million to respond to online misinformation and disinformation in Canada. Malinformation is content grounded in truth but presented in a misleading or exaggerated way, which can lead to misconceptions and harm. It manipulates factual elements to mislead audiences through distortion or selective emphasis.[2]

In August 2021, the Canadian Election Misinformation Project was launched by McGill University[5] in response to concerns about the rise of misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and the increase in foreign interference in elections globally.[6][7][8] According to McGill's 2022 Media Ecosystem Observatory's report, Canada's information landscape is fragmenting, with citizens increasingly relying on diverse and potentially unreliable sources for political information, raising concerns about echo chambers. The rise of minimally moderated platforms has created a chaotic environment, making it harder to combat disinformation. A disconnect exists between the actual prevalence of misinformation and public perception, potentially eroding trust in democratic processes. Additionally, a growing segment of Canadians has become deeply skeptical of democratic institutions, operating in an alternate information reality disconnected from mainstream narratives.[8]: 4–5  According to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (CCCS) the annual cost globally of "misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation" (MDM) represents billions of dollars.[2]

2000s

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  • 2003 — A petition with 1,180 signatures was submitted to the House of Commons alleging that "massive amounts of chemicals"—adversely affecting Canadians across the country—were sprayed by the federal government.[9] Health Canada and Environment Canada refuted the claims.[9] The Environment Canada statement said that the term 'chemtrails' was a "popularised expression" and that petitioners were seeing contrails—airplane condensation trails.[9] The decades-old chemtrail conspiracy theory has been "widely debunked by scientists and experts, who emphasize there is no credible evidence to support the claims associated with this theory".[10]

2010s

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2014

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2017

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2018

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2019

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  • January 25 — Trudeau sharply criticized social media giants at a public event in Quebec City, with particularly sharp rhetoric against Facebook for spreading disinformation around the world.[18]
  • January 29 — The Canadian government announced a $7 million plan to fight online misinformation and disinformation ahead of the 2019 Canadian federal election.[19] The government also called on social media platforms to be more proactive in combatting disinformation by implementing policies.[20]
  • In response to the increase in "false, misleading and inflammatory" online disinformation, the federal government created the Digital Citizen Initiative, to "support democracy and social inclusion in Canada".[21][22] The Digital Citizen Initiative is also supporting the Canadian Digital Media Research Network (CDMRN).[23][3]
  • The CPC chair, Bob Zimmer, of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics said that the 2015 Canadian federal election was largely "unencumbered by interference", although there were some attempts to "disrupt, misinform and divide", but these "efforts" were "uncoordinated", limited in number, and had little if any impact. However, by 2019, the threat to and vigilance of democracies around the globe had been heightened as the "tools that were used to strengthen civic engagement [were] being used to undermine, disrupt and destabilize democracy."[24]
  • 2019 — During the 2019 Canadian federal election there was not a lot of misinformation or disinformation but it was a threat to the public sphere, according to a 2020 Public Policy Forum journal report.[25]

2020s

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2020

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2021

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  • July 25 — According to Canada's National Observer, dozens of accounts "tweeting at non-human rates" posted the #TrudeauMustGo hashtag shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's criticized Donald Trump for making racist comments.[28] The Observer described the anti-Trudeau hashtags as an emerging "wave of disinformation".[29] Fake X accounts—formerly Twitter— run be automated bots is a form of "aggressive social media manipulation", according to Social Media Intelligence Unit (SMIU) analyst.[28] Social Cartograph's Geoff Golberg, a social media manipulation researcher, said that hashtag #NotABot, which followed the previous hashtag, is also a "form of disinformation in itself". He added that those who push disinformation "tend to run a similar playbook when called out for engaging in co-ordinated inauthentic activity".[29]

2023

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  • January — Tenet Media Network's founder—Canadian right-wing conservative activist and influencer—Lauren Chen, allegedly received a contract from Russia Today (RT) to recruit other conservative commentators to influence U.S. public opinion. Included among those she recruited were Matt Christiansen, Tayler Hansen, Benny Johnson, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, and Lauren Southern to be a part of the Tenet Media network.[30] These well-known right-wing commentators were duped into spreading Russian misinformation.[31]
  • May 9 — During the 2023 Canadian wildfires, with evacuations taking place in Yellowhead County, Alberta, Mayor Wade Williams tweeted on X, to tell residents to stop relying on Facebook for information on the wildfires as the platform was "full of false information".[32][33] According to a York University expert on wildfire communication, during disasters, online information can be "really reliable"but it can also be "straight-up misinformation" and even "disinformation where you have actors intentionally seeding incorrect information."
  • 'August 23 — Prime Minister Trudeau announced the creation of a dedicated team to counter disinformation sponsored by Russia, that will include collaboration with the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM).[34]
  • December 20 — According to a 2023 Statistics Canada survey on online misinformation, 59% of Canadians reported very or extreme concerns about online misinformation, while 43% said that distinguishing truth from fiction online was more difficult than in 2000.[35]

2024

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  • June 19 — At a speech in Ottawa, Canada, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on NATO countries to build resilience to counter misinformation which is part of the assault against the NATO alliance, specifically in order to assist Ukraine in responding to Russia's illegal invasion.[36]
  • June–July — Canada's rightwing activists posted conspiracy theories on social media about the 2024 Jasper wildfire that the National Observer called a "disinformation firestorm", part of a larger "climate disinformation campaign" in Canada.[37][38]
  • September 4 — In their campaign to counter Russian interference in the 2024 United States elections and the 2024 US presidential election, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment accusing Russian nationals of giving Tenet Media[39]—$9.7 million to "distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging".[40][41] Chen and her husband, Donavan, the co-founder of Tenet, knew their funding came from 'the Russians'.[42] During the 2024 Tenet Media investigation, it was revealed that Tim Pool, Benny Johnson and Dave Rubin, and other far-right influencers hired by Tenet, claimed they were unaware that it was a Russian disinformation campaign.[42][43][44]
  • September 13 — In a CBC Radio broadcast, PressProgress's, Luke LeBrun, said that Canada plays an "outsized role in far-right misinformation."[45]
  • September — U.S. authorities seized the RRN domain, that hosts the website Reliable Recent News, a Russian disinformation site that features anti-anti-Trudeau and pro-Poilievre articles .[39]
  • The federal government produced a guidebook to help public servants combat disinformation.[21]
  • September 12 — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada will partner in a "joint diplomatic campaign" to counter Russian disinformation and covert influence around the globe.[46][47]
  • 18 September — Timothy Caulfield—who focuses on debunking pseudoscientific myths and misinformation— raised concerns that politicians who spead conspiracy theories contribute to an "ever-accelerating conspiracy theory vortex", that draws attention away from real social issues to focus on "bogus concerns." He cites examples, of recent laws on chemtrails in the United States, Edmonton's municipal laws to protect against fifteen-minute cities, and laws against mRNA vaccines.[48]
  • 28 September — At the 28 September United Conservative Party (UCP) Town Hall in Edmonton, Danielle Smith, premier of the province of Alberta, responded to a concern that the municipality was being sprayed by so-called chemtrails[49]—a "long-held conspiracy theory" that airplane condensation vapours are purposefull nepharious acts.[50][51] Smith said, "Another person told me, if anyone is doing it, it's the U.S. Department of Defense."[52][50][51][53] While Smith said she had inquired about airspace regulations over the weekend, a Nav Canada statement confirmed they had received no queries from the provincial government.[51][53] According to an Associated Press article, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad), said there are no NORAD flights involving the spraying of chemicals in Canada.[51][53] Timothy Caulfield said that in this "age of misinformation", conspiracy theories are detrimental to democracies globally. When a political leader does not identify a conspiracy theory as such and correctly answering that it is not true, it is "horrifying".[50] He added that Smith's comments contribute to the "normalization of conspiracy theories" such as "lizard aliens and a flat earth".[10]

References

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  1. ^ Lazer 2018.
  2. ^ a b c CCCS 2022.
  3. ^ a b Heer & Heath 2021.
  4. ^ Vraga & Bode 2020.
  5. ^ Mcdevitt 2021.
  6. ^ Bridgman 2020.
  7. ^ Bridgman 2021.
  8. ^ a b Bridgman 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Guelph Mercury 2011.
  10. ^ a b Rhode 2024.
  11. ^ a b Kolga 2019.
  12. ^ Demchuk 2015.
  13. ^ a b Glavin 2017.
  14. ^ Charlevoix 2018.
  15. ^ G7 RRM 2019.
  16. ^ G7 RRM 2021.
  17. ^ Scott-Jones 2018.
  18. ^ Leblanc 2019.
  19. ^ & Hemmadi 2019.
  20. ^ EU 2019.
  21. ^ a b Canada 2024.
  22. ^ Canadian Heritage 2021.
  23. ^ IT World 2023.
  24. ^ Parl 2019.
  25. ^ Owen & Loewen 2020.
  26. ^ Innovation 2024.
  27. ^ Digital Society Lab 2020.
  28. ^ a b Orr 2019b.
  29. ^ a b Orr 2019a.
  30. ^ Couts n.d.
  31. ^ PBS 2024.
  32. ^ Theriault 2023.
  33. ^ Fawcett-Atkinson 2023.
  34. ^ Government of Canada 2022.
  35. ^ The Daily 2023.
  36. ^ NATO. "Speech by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at event hosted by the NATO Association of Canada and the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association". NATO. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  37. ^ Fawcett-Atkinson, Marc (June 17, 2024). "How wildfires expose Canada's climate disinformation problem". Canada's National Observer: Climate News. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  38. ^ Fawcett-Atkinson, Marc (July 26, 2024). "The blaze in Jasper fueled a wider disinformation firestorm | Canada's National Observer: Climate News". Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  39. ^ a b Montpetit, Jonathan (September 14, 2024). "Major Russian disinfo site featuring anti-Trudeau articles prompts calls for new focus at public inquiry". CBC News. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  40. ^ Cohen, Zachary; O'Sullivan, Donie; Perez, Evan; Lyngaas, Sean (September 4, 2024). "DOJ alleges Russia funded US media company linked to right-wing social media stars". CNN. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  41. ^ Spangler, Todd (September 5, 2024). "U.S. Officials Allege Russian Operatives Illegally Provided $10 Million to Fund Videos by American Right-Wing Social Media Stars". Variety. Archived from the original on September 5, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  42. ^ a b Dyer, Evan (September 11, 2024). "Washington's indictment shines a bright light on the dark corners of Russian disinformation operations". CBC. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  43. ^ "US conservative influencers say they are 'victims' of Russian disinformation campaign". The Guardian. September 5, 2024. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  44. ^ Marchman, Tim; Mehrotra, Dhruv (September 6, 2024). "What Right-Wing Influencers Actually Said in Those Tenet Media Videos". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  45. ^ Luke Lebrun (September 13, 2024). What's behind Canada's outsized influence in the world of far-right misinformation. CBC Radio. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  46. ^ Schmunk 2024.
  47. ^ Pugh 2024.
  48. ^ Caulfield 2024.
  49. ^ Nelson 2024.
  50. ^ a b c CityNews 2024.
  51. ^ a b c d Wherry 2024.
  52. ^ disorderedyyc 2024.
  53. ^ a b c Lebrun 2024.

Bibliography

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B

  • Bridgman, Aengus; Merkley, Eric; Loewen, Peter John; Owen, Taylor; Ruths, Derek; Teichmann, Lisa; Zhilin, Oleg (2020). "The Causes and Consequences of COVID-19 Misperceptions: Understanding the Role of News and Social Media". Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review. 1 (3). doi:10.37016/mr-2020-028.
  • Bridgman, Aengus; Merkley, Eric; Zhilin, Oleg; Loewen, Peter John; Owen, Taylor; Ruths, Derek (2021). Infodemic Pathways: Evaluating the Role That Traditional and Social Media Play in Cross-National Information Transfer. Frontiers in Political Science (Report). Vol. 3. doi:10.3389/fpos.2021.648646.
  • Bridgman, Aengus; Lavigne, M.; Baker, M; Bergeron, T; Bohonos, D; Burton, A; McCoy, K (2022). Mis- and Disinformation During the 2021 Canadian Federal Election (PDF). Media Ecosystem Observatory (Report). Retrieved September 17, 2024.

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