Four in five Canadians are concerned about false information affecting the next federal election, while many also fear foreign actors exploiting social media to influence opinions, according to an Elections Canada-commissioned survey.
The survey, which was delivered to the agency in April and first covered covered by Blacklock’s Reporter, asked 2,501 Canadians whether they thought “different types of electoral interference could have any impact on the outcome of the next federal election in Canada.”
The largest proportion (80 percent) of electors said they believe the spread of false information online could have a moderate or severe impact on the outcome of the federal election. The second-largest proportion (69 percent) said that foreign countries or groups using social media and other means to influence the political opinions of Canadians could have an impact….