7 hours Ago By Brandon Sun
Manitoba’s government is moving forward with legislation aimed at protecting the integrity of elections in the province. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe tabled a bill that would ban the intentional spreading of misleading information regarding voter eligibility, the conduct of elections officials and the people who provide ballots and vote-counting machines. 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.
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or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Manitoba’s government is moving forward with legislation aimed at protecting the integrity of elections in the province. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe tabled a bill that would ban the intentional spreading of misleading information regarding voter eligibility, the conduct of elections officials and the people who provide ballots and vote-counting machines.
Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion Manitoba’s government is moving forward with legislation aimed at protecting the integrity of elections in the province. On Tuesday, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe tabled a bill that would ban the intentional spreading of misleading information regarding voter eligibility, the conduct of elections officials and the people who provide ballots and vote-counting machines. The legislation also seeks to prohibit the use of altered electronic images of candidates — widely known as “deepfakes” — for the purpose of affecting election results, as well as deliberate attempts to undermine confidence in elections.
Once passed, the bill would also give the commissioner of elections the power to issue a “stop notice” to the individual disseminating the suspected disinformation. Failure to comply with that notice could result in a fine of up to $20,000 per day. The bill distinguishes between inadvertent factual errors and information that is deliberately false and designed to mislead by specifically targeting individuals who release material despite “knowing that the statement is false, or having a reckless disregard as to whether it is false.
” Finally, the bill would give Manitobans a process for lodging complaints about political ads by requiring political parties to each create a publicly available code of ethics regarding advertising, along with a defined process for the handling of complaints. The new legislation builds upon existing provisions in the provincial Elections Act, which already prohibits individuals from spreading false information about candidates and impersonating election officials. The steps being taken by our provincial government represent a reasonable, much-needed attempt to protect the integrity of provincial elections from the growing threats posed by technological advancements and what appears to be an increased willingness on the part of some individuals to interfere in the integrity of our electoral process and results.
The Manitoba government deserves credit for taking these steps, but the same cannot be said for the federal government. Last November, we pointed out (“Anti-deepfake elections laws are long overdue,” Nov. 19, 2024) that Canada’s chief electoral officer, Stéphane Perrault, had released a report in which he made several recommendations aimed at “addressing emerging threats arising from artificial intelligence and deepfakes.
” Among those recommendations, he suggested that the “impersonation provision” of the Canada Elections Act also include the misrepresentation of candidates and other key participants in the electoral process through the manipulation of their voice or image without their consent. He also advised that “all paid and unpaid electoral communications (image, audio, video or text) distributed during a regulated pre-election and election period, or a contest, that have been generated or manipulated by AI should include a clear transparency marker.” “AI” is an abbreviation for “artificial intelligence” technology.
Finally, he recommended that “In order to ensure that accurate information is being distributed about when, where and how to register and vote ...
platforms that have AI-generated chatbots or search functions should be required to indicate in their responses where users can find official or authoritative information.” In support of those recommendations, Perrault noted that “AI images of people doing things they never did, audio of them saying things they never said or created videos can threaten democracy and make it difficult for a voter to know what is real and what is a deepfake.” He warned that “foreign state actors could leverage the power of technology to create deepfakes in order to influence or undermine the electoral process.
” Those troubling concerns have acquired an added sense of concern in light of the likelihood that a federal election could be called as soon as a few days from now, and the reality that none of the additional protections called for by Perrault were passed into law prior to Parliament being prorogued. Given the spectre — arguably the likelihood — of improper interference by foreign governments and unethical organizations and individuals during the upcoming election campaign, Parliament’s failure to legislate and implement Perrault’s recommendations means that the integrity and outcome of the election will be vulnerable to the threats identified by Perrault in his report. That is unacceptable.
Among the many duties that elected officials must shoulder, few are higher than the obligation to protect and preserve the integrity of our electoral process. Unlike the Manitoba government, our federal government has failed to act in the face of genuine, serious threats to the upcoming election. At a time when the future of our nation may hinge on the outcome of the election, it’s a risk that should never have been taken.
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