Ottawa has to do more to fight spread of disinformation online
Canada an attractive target for foreign interference, CSIS says
The spread of disinformation and polarization via social media is one of the biggest threats to social cohesion in Canada and the federal government needs to do more to fight it, says the head of Canada’s spy agency.
“The use of social media and other online platforms as vectors of disinformation, misinformation, propaganda and hate spread by both individuals and states continues to increase and accelerate. This type of information manipulation and propaganda can have serious consequences,” Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director David Vigneault said during a speech to University of British Columbia students Wednesday.
“I do believe this is one of the most important questions about social cohesion in the country for the next number of years,” he added later.
Vigneault was responding to a question from a student who asked how CSIS is dealing with the spread of misinformation and increasing polarization on social media platforms, “specifically Meta and Twitter.”
Vigneault began by saying that one of the complex issues for government agencies such as his as well as the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) and the RCMP is figuring out “who should be looking at social media.”
Ultimately, he says CSIS’ work is “very targeted” and a “small approach” compared to the magnitude of the spread of disinformation online.
“We have the mandate and the authorities to look through social media, but it has to be targeted, it has to be specific,” he explained. “What would not be legitimate and what I would not want to see in a democracy is for the intelligence service to just to go out and monitor social media writ large.
“That would not work, and I can tell you, we would not have the resources and it would also not be effective.”
He says that’s where academia and researchers can step in and help Canada monitor and fight back against the spread of problematic discourse and foreign interference online, namely by doing widespread monitoring in a way that CSIS and other intelligence agencies can’t without a warrant.
But ultimately, he also thinks there is still more to be done by Ottawa to curb the rising threat of dangerous online discourse.
“I think the federal government needs to do more,” he told the audience, though he acknowledged that government’s role in regulating social media platforms is a “very contentious political issue” and raises “absolutely critical” questions.
“It’s very complex, and the more we talk about how best to address it, the less chances we’re going to have to find the wrong solution to it,” he added.
But Vigneault stopped short of saying what he thinks governments should do to better police and fight back against problematic rhetoric on online platforms.
During his speech, the CSIS director reiterated his concerns about the growth and threat of extremist ideological views, referred to as ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE), in Canada.
Canada divides IMVE into four categories: xenophobic (such as racially motivated attacks), anti-authority, gender-driven (such as the 2018 Toronto van attack) and other grievance-driven violence.
Speaking to parliamentarians last week, Vigneault said that almost half of the agency’s counterterrorism resources is now devoted to countering the threat posed by IMVES.
“That is a staggering number when you think about it,” he said.
Vigneault also renewed his agency’s warnings in the face of increased attempts of foreign interference by hostile states, who often target Canada’s multicultural communities in an attempt to sow discord or spread misinformation and disinformation.
“Canada is an attractive target for foreign interference. Hostile activity by state actors also targets the fabric of Canada’s multicultural society, seeking to influence Canadian communities through threats, manipulation and coercion. Some of these communities are being exploited to advance the interests of the offending state,” he told students.
He specifically pointed a finger at China and its ruling Chinese Communist Party.
“In the last number of years, we have seen an increase in activities by China that has directed at our values our economic prosperity or democracy,” he said.
More specifically, he accused the CCP of using recent “national security” laws that force Chinese companies and individuals, as well as anyone or company established in China, to share information as requested with the government as a gun against the head of its own people and diaspora.
“It creates the environment for coercion, to force people anywhere in the world to collaborate with the intelligence services for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party, often to the detriment of the individual involved or to the country that they are now they are living in,” he added.
“I do believe this is one of the most important questions about social cohesion in the country for the next number of years.”
David Vigneault CSIS director