As Canadians head to the polls in a high-stakes federal election, experts are sounding the alarm over a dangerous mix of digital news restrictions and rising foreign influence that could distort voter perceptions. For the first time, voters are navigating an election landscape where news access on major social media platforms is severely limited—while influential foreign actors, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s ally Elon Musk, appear to be shaping the political discourse from abroad. This combination, some warn, may leave Canadians vulnerable to misinformation and unaware of how their media diet is being manipulated.
The crisis stems from a clash between Canadian legislation and tech giants. In response to the government’s Online News Act, Meta blocked Canadian users from accessing news on Facebook and Instagram in 2023. Around the same time, Musk rebranded Twitter as X and altered its internal policies in ways critics say encourage political interference. While both platforms have also limited researchers’ ability to monitor online content, Musk has used X to amplify his personal political views, including support for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and derogatory comments about former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. These moves have drawn criticism from Canadian officials who accuse Musk of meddling in the country’s democracy.
The concerns go beyond tech company policies. Experts argue that voters are not only misinformed—they may not even realize they are uninformed. According to Aengus Bridgman of McGill University, many Canadians remain unaware that they can no longer access credible news sources on platforms they use daily. This is especially troubling during an election, when informed decision-making is crucial. Meanwhile, Conservative politicians are reportedly outperforming their Liberal and NDP counterparts in terms of online engagement, further skewing the public conversation on platforms like X, where right-wing content tends to flourish algorithmically.
This imbalance is further compounded by the collapse of transparency tools. Meta shut down CrowdTangle in 2024, and X placed access to its API behind a paywall, making it nearly impossible for independent researchers to track the spread of misinformation or analyze content patterns. As a result, the digital environment is now more opaque than ever. Clifton van der Linden of McMaster University noted that this creates a situation where tailored and manipulated content can thrive unchecked, reinforcing ideological bubbles and eroding any shared sense of factual reality.
The broader concern is that foreign actors, particularly from the U.S., are gaining outsized influence in Canadian political discourse. Ahmed Al-Rawi from Simon Fraser University emphasized that while foreign interference from Russia, China, and India has been well-documented, many Canadians are increasingly alarmed by the role American voices are playing in shaping the conversation. Figures like Joe Rogan, who frequently make inaccurate claims about Canada to a massive audience, are just one example of how hyper-partisan American content is infiltrating Canadian debates.
In a worst-case scenario, Bridgman warns, a handful of American influencers with no stake in Canada’s future could significantly sway the outcome of the election. With mainstream news harder to access and digital watchdogs sidelined, the stage is set for a volatile and potentially compromised democratic process. As Canada grapples with this unprecedented blend of information scarcity and foreign interference, experts argue it’s time for a national conversation about how to protect the integrity of its elections in the digital age.
Originally published on Weekly Voice
