Media Beat: The Disinformation Wars [Opinion Column]

Elections are taking place this year in countries home to almost half of the world's population. By the numbers, at least 64 countries (plus the European Union) have general elections in 2024 — representing a combined population of about 49% of the people in the world.

Working against democratic elections is a growing snake pit of authoritarian regimes and vested interests with deep pockets that lack moral ambiguity in their quest to seed electoral divisions and create extreme political strife wherever possible.

According to disinformation site Debunk, Russia’s annual propaganda budget runs north of US$120M and the Wall Street Journal suggests China’s disinformation campaigns run into the billion-dollar territory. Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity research lab at the University of Toronto, has reported that a network of 123 websites operated from China, which pose as local news outlets in thirty countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Earlier this year, Newsweek reported that South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), identified 38 fake Korean-language news websites that were suspected of ties to two public relations firms based in China.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department alleged Russian state media producers had funnelled nearly $10M to an unnamed Tennessee-based online media company, identified by CNN as Tenet Media, boasting a slate of high-profile right-wing commentators boasting millions of followers across social media platforms. The right-wing U.S influencers apparently (that included two right-wing Canadians) were unaware of the duplicity as they accepted extravagant paydays for speaking oftentimes questionable truths enhancing Republican far-right agendas.

In a recent Associated Press feature, Ali Swenson and Melissa Goldin dig into the growth of anonymous users dominating right-wing discussions online and spreading false information.

“(Shielded or bogus accounts) enjoy a massive reach that is boosted by engagement algorithms, by social media companies greatly reducing or eliminating efforts to remove phony or harmful material, and by endorsements from high-profile figures such as Elon Musk. They also can generate substantial financial rewards from X and other platforms by ginning up outrage against Democrats.

“Many such internet personalities identify as patriotic citizen journalists uncovering real corruption. Yet their demonstrated ability to spread misinformation unchecked while disguising their true motives worries experts with the United States in a presidential election year…”

The Chinese government, meantime reportedly spins its own truths through content-sharing agreements in South East Asia, and through content moderation on TikTok, which has earned increased scrutiny from Western countries about security, surveillance and censorship controls.

Curbing blatant fear-mongering and bleached lies has become a fiery topic of conversation with extreme free-speech advocates often hard-nosed in their views and willing to freely debate, and concerned politicians and mainstream media outlets all sharing common ground that unregulated deception is not a healthy prescription for healthy democracies.

Capturing the mechanics of this war on minds is a new book by Renée DiResta who has spent years researching the power of conspiracy theorists, foreign intelligence agencies and others who wish to lead the weak and willing into places that beggar belief and spotlight rumour mills spinning out hollowed out truths and pure fictions. DiResta’s new title is Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality and it can be found here and here.

At home, the federal government recently introduced Bill C-70, "An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act, the Protecting the Electoral Process Act, and the Public Service Employment Act." that hopes to address foreign interference in Canada by introducing new criminal offences and changes to Canada's spy agency.

Of course, the democratic checks and balances will almost certainly provide immunity for bad actors to inject their venom behind well-concealed cyber walls and use strident online voices to spread sophisticated disinformation, just as Tenet Media’s blowhards did.

Postmedia Studios To Produce Content For Online Streaming Services

With as much as $200M on offer through new CRTC-mandated fees levied against foreign online streaming services such as Netflix, Postmedia has formed a partnership with Contend, a leading content creation and marketing company in Canada and the U.S. that has its blue-chip clients such as Disney, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft.

As per the announcement, “Contend and Postmedia Next will (also) create innovative opportunities for advertisers with a new wave of ad products targeted at specific content. Emerging and untapped content verticals along with original advertiser-sponsored IP formats will be targeted to create stand-alone content ecosystems for brands."

RIP Stevie Cameron

Stephanie (Stevie) Cameron CM (née Dahl) died at her home in Toronto on Aug. 31, 2024 at the age of 80. The Canadian journalist and author co-hosted the investigative documentary series, The Fifth Estate. She was an honouree for a long list of awards for her probing articles that appeared in numerous news outlets, including the Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and Maclean’s. Further reading here.