Perfect.
Thank you for inviting me.
I think disinformation and elections go hand in hand right now, because of what I call a perfect storm related to the role of the media, the rise of digital social media, the decline in partisan affiliations, the rise of populism and the increased incidence of election campaigns.
More and more media outlets are in financial trouble. More and more people are getting their news on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Trust in traditional media is also waning. News consumption is happening less and less on traditional media; people are heading to digital social media platforms to get their news.
This perfect storm is also related to the media funding crisis. More and more media outlets are shutting down, and this is creating a media void that's being filled by digital social media. However, a whole bunch of questions could be raised about the reliability of sources and the variety of content found on digital social media. There's also no code of ethics or journalistic standards governing the social media or influencer content. It's still challenging to regulate social media platforms.
All of this is also the result of what we call the decline in partisan affiliations. Fewer and fewer people carry a party membership card and identify with one political party. That has led to electoral volatility, coupled with what we call the rise of populism. During the trucker convoy, many groups showed their dissatisfaction, Canada was split into two blocks: east and west, and regionalism made a comeback. Populism is often protest-based or identity-based. People denounce the elites or focus on certain identities. The founding people will be pitted against immigrants, for example.
Other factors in the storm are fixed-date elections, which actually don't have fixed dates, and something we call the permanent campaign in my field of research. Candidates no longer campaign only when an election is called; they campaign all the time. So disinformation can be be concentrated during elections, but it can also happen anytime.
Where does that disinformation end up? Most of it goes to digital social media, because people get their news on the Internet and because its easy to use these platforms to create content. In some cases, it's impossible to determine where the content on these platforms comes from. We're seeing more and more deepfakes and fake new. This is being spread not only by people engaging in foreign interference, but sometimes also by political parties themselves. Right now, we're seeing politicians themselves talking about fake news and criticizing the media, copying current practices in the United States, including those of the Republicans.
How can we fight disinformation in this context?
From my perspective as a researcher, I believe it's important to acquire good media literacy and show Canadians how to distinguish false information from information that might be true.
It's also important to ensure that platforms are moderated. We saw an example of this last week, when the mayor of Montreal decided to disable user comments about her posts on X, formerly Twitter.
In addition, it's important for states to draw inspiration from what's being done elsewhere, particularly in Europe, to regulate practices and digital social media platforms. Ethical issues and problems related to information and disinformation need to be raised, particularly when it comes to electoral politics.
I'm ready to answer your questions.
Thank you.