AI ‘Tsunami' hits Canadian election online, but voter impact limited
As Canadians head to the polls, a silent battle rages online, where artificial intelligence is crafting a new reality for voters. Despite its potential for manipulation, however, experts suggest its impact on the election remains surprisingly muted.
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"It feels 'Black Mirror'-esque, it feels dystopian," Aengus Bridgman, a researcher at the Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), said, describing the unprecedented wave of AI-generated content flooding
Canada
's online election landscape.
The MEO, tracking elections-related social media activity, has labeled this federal election campaign the most "dystopian" in Canadian history.
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"We don't have any evidence yet that Canadians are being manipulated or were convinced of things that are not true," Bridgman, also a McGill University professor, notes.
However, he cautions, "This is absolutely a concern, and could occur, but it hasn't yet. There's just tons of generative AI content that we've seen."
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AI-generated content, including deepfake videos and memes, impersonated legitimate news sources to promote fraudulent investment schemes, and even repurposed Facebook buy and sell pages for political advocacy.
"News is not available on that platform, but AI was pretending to be news," Bridgman explained. This digital manipulation filled the news vacuum created by the Online News Act, which forced Meta to block news content in Canada.
"Meta has somehow decided that this is OK," Bridgman said, expressing concern over the platform's moderation.
However, Meta spokesperson Julia Perreira countered, "We have around 40,000 people working on safety and security issues globally at Meta," highlighting their efforts to combat misinformation.
Bridgman also noted a silver lining: Canadians are increasingly aware of online manipulation. "Canadians are much more aware of and concerned about, for example, foreign interference, the role of deepfakes and manipulated content online than previously," he observed.
This awareness has led to increased engagement with legitimate Canadian news websites.
The MEO's research also revealed distinct platform usage among political actors. "It's one of the most notable shifts in this election," Bridgman said, pointing to the rise of platforms like Bluesky and TikTok.
He noted a partisan divide, with Liberals dominating Bluesky and Conservatives finding more traction on X and Instagram.
This platform fragmentation, Bridgman warns, could exacerbate political polarization. "I'm very concerned about the online information ecosystem," he said.
"We're kind of in an interesting moment." The MEO, funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage and other foundations, analyzed roughly 5,000 accounts across various social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bluesky, and Telegram, to understand the evolving digital landscape of Canadian politics.
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