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CONFRONTING ONLINE HATE, DISINFORMATION AND FOREIGN INTERFERENCE

Published on January 27, 2025

Manipulation of facts, hiding hate speech under the guise of “freedom,” and interference from foreign governments have escalated concerns about the protection of our democracy. Canada is not the only country where a proliferation of hate and disinformation on social media, the hacking of institutions (hospitals and school boards), and the use of silent drones have caused Western democracies to confront the abuse of technological media by legislative means.

Our concerns are being raised more than ever, with media giant oligarchs refusing to fact-check information on their platforms. Mark Zuckerberg (META, Instagram, Facebook) has officially become Donald Trump’s billionaire ally. Aside from his one-million-dollar donation to Trump, he has ended its fact-checking program, and new policies have ended restrictions on hate speech. Hate speech on social media will now allow racist, misogynistic, Neo-Nazi, and diversity slurs. Zuckerberg and other MAGA media oligarchs, Elon Musk (Twitter, X), Peter Thiel (PayPal) and Jeff Besos (Amazon), have joined ranks to maintain that governments cannot censor free speech. The United States is now the only Western democratic country that allows a free-for-all on social media. This comes at a time when the US has ended and pulled itself away from the Paris Accord, the World Health Organization, and all equity programs addressing the needs of women, children and their families. Nothing will be done to safeguard the trafficking of women and children or put an end to the nefarious use of pornography. Nothing is being done to stop foreign interference in democratic elections worldwide. Nothing is being done to address the infringement of our privacy rights with the hacking of data in our hospitals, schools and government institutions.

How can the MCW respond to the onslaught of online hate, disinformation, data hacking, and foreign interference in our elections? As individuals, you can stop sustaining media empires and no longer deal with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, PayPal, and Amazon. However, this solution is not viable for individuals and organizations where media technology has benefited communications among members and with family and friends. What would our meetings and events be like without Zoom or webinars? Media technology benefits organizations and our medical and education research communities.

There is no point in throwing out the baby with the bath water.

Aside from your choices to avoid the new media technology, regrettably, there is nothing anyone can do to regulate the damaging abuse of media technology without legislation. Canada’s government is prorogued until the next government is elected after our federal elections in the summer or fall of 2025. As is, here is but a short list of the following pieces of legislation that have come to a halt under our prorogued parliament:

  • Bill C-20, the Public Complaints and Review Commission Act
  • Bill C-27, Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022 and the very problematic Artificial Intelligence and Data Act
  • Bill C-63: The Online Harms Act
  • Bill C-70: The new and highly controversial Foreign Interference law
  • ill C-353: The Foreign Hostage Takers Accountability Act
  • The UN Counter-terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) Canada assessment
  • The UN Cybersecurity Treaty & the EU AI Convention

There is some good news about legislation adopted from eleven affected democratic countries – the most far-reaching being the legislation of Singapore with its disinformation, cyberbullying and laws from just about anything against the “public interest”. Germany has legislation that will result in heavy fines if fake news is not removed within 24 hours. Australia, Great Britain, France, New Zealand, and Sweden are all moving with legislation to hold media platforms criminally responsible for disinformation, propaganda, and hate speech. Much is being anticipated when the European Parliament will soon present wide-reaching legislation to ban all forms of hate speech and disinformation. While media literacy is necessary for all governments, legislative measures need to be implemented and acted upon.

Once the federal parliament is re-elected, the Montreal Council of Women will continue to advocate for laws to address the ills of online hate and the abuses of media platforms. In the interim, remember, with algorithms, that what goes viral is not necessarily true. Please be vigilant with the information you provide and share online.

Maria Peluso, Vice President of Government Affairs,
Quebec and Montreal Council of Women

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