Nearly 60 percent of Canadians say they are concerned with misinformation, according to a new Statistics Canada study.
The report released on June 18 found that 59 percent of Canadians said they had a very high or extreme level of concern over online misinformation, while 14 percent said they were not very or not at all concerned. Additionally, 43 percent of Canadians said they found it harder to distinguish between true and false news or information compared to three years earlier.
As first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the report said concern with misinformation was associated with lower trust in various institutions like banks and the justice system. “Those who reported being somewhat, not very, or not at all concerned about online misinformation were often more likely to have higher levels of confidence in Canadian institutions,” the report said.
There were regional differences in Canadians’ concern with misinformation, with 50 percent of Quebecers being concerned with it compared to 63 percent in Ontario and the Prairies and 62 percent in British Columbia.
The report’s authors said Quebec’s relative lack of concern with misinformation could be in part “due to the unique sociodemographic make up” of the province, which includes an older population and small number of French-language news sources to use to verify information.
The report also found indications that some groups with lower levels of concern about misinformation, typically younger or less educated Canadians, felt less optimistic about democracy in Canada. Around 40 percent of these Canadians were hopeful about democracy, while 54 percent of those with high levels of concern about misinformation were hopeful.
People less concerned with misinformation were also found to be less engaged with democracy, as they were less likely to have voted in the 2021 federal election.
The report said misinformation referred to news or information that is verifiably false or inaccurate.
