5 hours Ago By By Deveryn Ross
The Conservatives have every right to be angry, and every reason to demand that something substantive finally be done to prevent foreign election interference. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support.
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The Conservatives have every right to be angry, and every reason to demand that something substantive finally be done to prevent foreign election interference. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion The Conservatives have every right to be angry, and every reason to demand that something substantive finally be done to prevent foreign election interference. In the early hours of yesterday morning, U.
S. President Donald Trump decided to blow off some steam via his Truth Social account, with Canada’s election as the target. He wrote: “Good luck to the Great people of Canada.
Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, WITH ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st State of the United States of America. No more artificially drawn line from many years ago. Look how beautiful this land mass would be.
Free access with NO BORDER. ALL POSITIVES WITH NO NEGATIVES. IT WAS MEANT TO BE! America can no longer subsidize Canada with the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year that we have been spending in the past.
It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!” Days earlier, a report was published in Time Magazine, in which Trump was asked if his rhetoric regarding Canada was just a form of trolling, he said “I’m really not trolling. Canada is an interesting case. We lose $200 to $250 billion a year supporting Canada .
.. We’re taking care of their military.
We’re taking care of every aspect of their lives, and we don’t need them to make cars for us ...
We don’t need anything from Canada. And I say the only way this thing really works is for Canada to become a state.” In an election where many voters made their voting decision based on the question of which party’s leader was the best choice to stand up to Trump, his decision to re-amplify his desire to annex Canada into becoming America’s 51st state twice during the final week of the campaign — including on the morning of the election itself — very likely cost the Conservatives votes across the country.
You could even make a convincing argument that Trump’s statements cost the Conservatives victory in yesterday’s election, and you might be right. The menacing shadow cast by Trump over the election was a serious issue that undoubtedly impacted the election, but other factors also played a role. During the campaign, there were numerous instances of fake videos created with artificial intelligence.
Fake polls were published on social media, creating the false appearance of momentum. Similarly, there were also fake and forged documents published on social media. Those fake polls and documents may have increased voter turnout in support of one party, but may have also suppressed turnout in support of other parties.
There was a study published last week that revealed that messages posted on at least one social media website were severely slanted in favour of one party leader, and severely biased against another. The common denominator in all of those problems is social media websites and how they were used in order to manipulate and misinform voters. It’s a serious problem that will only worsen in the future, as Canadians increasingly rely upon social media for their news and other information.
What’s the solution? A good start would be reviving the proposed amendments to the Elections Act that were not passed by the previous Parliament prior to its dissolution for the election. Those amendments would have targeted deepfake videos and expanded restrictions on “misleading publications” during an election period. It would also expanded the scope of the act to apply to all communications “whose purpose is to influence electors to vote or not to vote, or to vote for or against a candidate or party.
” Some of those amendments, if they had been passed prior to the election, would have gone a long way toward addressing and preventing some of the abuses we saw on social media over the past few weeks. It would have only been a start, however. Going forward, there needs to be a serious national conversation about the role of social media in elections, and the misinformation and voter suppression dangers that it poses to the integrity of our elections.
At present, it is an unregulated environment that not only permits abuse to occur, but arguably encourages and rewards it. As regards Trump and other foreign voices, Elections Act amendments won’t silence his voice, but exercising greater control over social media during an election period could reduce their influence on our elections. Last night’s election has exposed the growing dangers posed by disinformation and foreign actors.
Serious steps must be taken to protect the integrity of our elections, and the sooner the better. Advertisement Advertisement.
