Dramatic rise in fake political content on social media as Canada prepares to vote

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/18/canada-fake-political-content-social-media

Report finds over a quarter of Canadians exposed to ‘more sophisticated and more politically polarizing’ fake content

More than a quarter of Canadians have been exposed to fake political content on social media that is “more sophisticated and more politically polarizing” as the country prepares to vote in a federal election, researchers have found, warning that platforms must increase protections amid a “dramatic acceleration” of online disinformation in the final weeks of the campaign.

In a new report released on Friday, Canada’s Media Ecosystem Observatory found a growing number of Facebook ads impersonating legitimate news sources were instead promoting fraudulent investment schemes, often involving cryptocurrency.

…

Media researchers found more than half of Canadians still say they get political news from Facebook, despite the platform’s ban on news articles from reputable outlets.

243 points · 7 comments · view on lemmy.world

7 Comments

ToadOfHypnosis@lemm.ee · 67 pts · 1y (2 replies)

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JasonDJ@lemmy.zip · 31 pts · 1y

Yeah and it's being funded by Musk and Thiel.

If somebody told me, 27 years ago, that paying for eBay auctions would be the first link in a chain of events that would lead to the downfall of US, I've thought you were crazy.

I apologize, everyone. This is entirely because of my teenage photography hobby. I should've kept on just mailing money orders.

homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y

Yes, and It's This.

One of several relevant points:

Cambridge Analytica worked on campaigns in several key states for a Republican political action committee. Its key objective, according to a memo the Observer has seen, was “voter disengagement” and “to persuade Democrat voters to stay at home”: a profoundly disquieting tactic. It has previously been claimed that suppression tactics were used in the campaign, but this document provides the first actual evidence.

Asafum@feddit.nl · 59 pts · 1y (3 replies)

Media researchers found more than half of Canadians still say they get political news from Facebook,

🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮 🤮

Apricot@lemm.ee · 27 pts · 1y (1 reply)

Dear god, that's like saying "I get my prescriptions filled by my pharmacist in that dark alley down the street, just behind the dumpster."

raptore39@lemm.ee · 11 pts · 1y

Wait, you don't?

Sixtyforce@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y

I'm sure that won't bite us in the ass in 4 years, right Carney? I'm sure the enemy owning the narrative in Canada won't be a problem.

CheeseToastie@lazysoci.al · 15 pts · 1y

Extremist groups run really sophisticated, targeted social media campaigns. It's not just foreign interference, it's fucking terrorism

Beldarofremulak@discuss.online · 1 pts · 1y

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