Canadian Election Integrity Initiatives and Domestic Disinformation: Investigating the 2019 Canadian Federal Election Across Sectors by Christine McKenna A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Information Faculty of Information University of Toronto © Copyright by Christine McKenna 2021 Canadian Election Integrity Initiatives and Domestic Disinformation: Investigating the 2019 Canadian Federal Election Across Sectors Christine McKenna Master of Information, Critical Information Policy Studies Faculty of Information University of Toronto 2021 Abstract This thesis examines several efforts to address the threat of online disinformation to the 2019 Canadian federal election, and considers the degree to which election integrity initiatives by government, industry, and civil society stakeholders accounted for the role of domestic actors within the disinformation ecosystem. While much contemporary discourse on disinformation and election integrity focuses on foreign influence, the phenomenon also implicates domestic actors like political parties, third party groups, mainstream and partisan media, and average social media users. Through qualitative analysis of key legislative, policy, and public awareness initiatives, this thesis draws out common themes, strategies, and perspectives in Canada’s approach to disinformation across sectors, alongside a supplementary analysis of Canadian mainstream media coverage related to the election. It concludes with a critical policy analysis that considers whether Canadian election integrity initiatives sufficiently account for domestically-driven disinformation, particularly given increased political polarization and far- right influence in Canada. ii Acknowledgments I began thinking about this project in the spring of 2019, after completing my first year of studies at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. By the fall of that year, I was busy collecting data and having regular consultations with my wonderful supervisor, Dr. Leslie Shade. Winter rolled around, and I thought I was on track to spend the summer of 2020 happily writing in the sunny window of a library or coffee shop, and to defend my work that September. Instead, it took me all summer, through the fall, and into the winter of 2021 to get this thesis done – because, well, it’s difficult to write a thesis during an unprecedented global pandemic. Thank you to everyone who helped me stay on track and see this thing through during those strange times: Leslie Shade, for her ideas, advice, patience, and incredible support; Drs. Megan Boler and Elizabeth Dubois for their valuable feedback as second reader and external examiner, respectively; my friends and family, and especially my parents Pam and Joe McKenna, for their continuous encouragement; my partner Jon Tuyp for keeping me motivated and well-fed; and Sherry Dang from Student Services for being super helpful on the administrative side of things. Without the support of these fine folks and more, I would not have achieved the level of satisfaction I now feel having completed this project. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... vii List of Appendices .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Disinformation and elections in the Canadian context.................................................1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Literature review and methodology ............................................................................4 What is disinformation? ..........................................................................................................4 2.1 Clarifying terminology.....................................................................................................4 2.1.1 Platform data collection, targeted advertising, and algorithmic curation ...............6 2.1.2 The attention economy, changing media ecosystems, and the proliferation of junk news .............................................................................................................7 2.1.3 Disrupting democracy ..........................................................................................8 2.2 Understanding and developing policy responses to disinformation and democracy ........ 10 2.2.1 Disinformation policy and Canadian democracy ................................................. 11 2.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 3: Research, regulation, and outreach: The Canadian federal government’s 2019 election integrity initiatives ................................................................................................... 16 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 16 3.1 National security perspectives on disinformation and elections ...................................... 18 3.1.1 Cyber Threats to Canada’s Democratic Process ................................................ 18 3.1.2 Who said what? The Security Challenges of Modern Disinformation .................. 20 3.2 Regulatory action: The Elections Modernization Act ...................................................... 22 3.2.1 Political advertising and partisan activity: New rules for political actors ............. 22 3.2.2 Political advertising transparency for platforms and publishers ........................... 24 3.2.3 Preventing interference through false statements ................................................ 25 iv 3.2.4 Regulating the use and protection of personal data by political entities ............... 26 3.2.5 Enforcement capacity and overall impact ........................................................... 26 3.3 Disinformation and democracy: Legislators and experts convene ................................... 27 3.3.1 Political parties and PIPEDA .............................................................................. 28 3.3.2 Regulating social media platforms ...................................................................... 29 3.3.3 Research and media literacy ............................................................................... 31 3.4 Government of Canada response to ETHI & Plan to Safeguard the 2019 Election .......... 32 3.5 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 34 Chapter 4: Industry Response: How Facebook, Twitter, and Google prepared for their role in the election ........................................................................................................................... 37 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 37 4.1 Platform companies and the Canada Declaration on Electoral Integrity Online .............. 37 4.2 Platform responses to Bill C-76: political advertising registries ...................................... 38 4.3 Platform efforts to promote integrity and authenticity .................................................... 40 4.3.1 Cybersecurity and safe social media use ............................................................. 42 4.3.2 Preventing and countering disinformation .......................................................... 43 4.3.3 Research and knowledge generation about disinformation .................................. 45 4.3.4 Promoting democratic engagement and strengthening media literacy ................. 45 4.4 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 5: Awareness, literacy, and participation: Civil society initiatives to counter disinformation ...................................................................................................................... 48 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 48 5.1 Digital democracy, civic literacy .................................................................................... 50 5.2 Media literacy and fact-checking ................................................................................... 51 5.3 Training for community information leaders: the role of educators and journalists in countering disinformation .............................................................................................. 52 5.4 Research-oriented initiatives .......................................................................................... 53 v 5.5 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 6: Election integrity in Canadian mainstream media coverage ...................................... 56 Introduction .........................................................................................................................