Feds need to put spotlight on social media to prevent foreign interference: UBC prof

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – We’re a little over a year ahead of the next federal election, but ahead of that, an expert says there are a few steps the government should take to prevent foreign interference.

Heidi Tworek, a UBC assistant professor of International History, applauds the feds’ efforts to beef up a bill to prevent such interference. She said the first step is admitting it could happen.

“Because it’s fairly easy to engage in these sorts of efforts, it’s pretty certain that Canada is a target and will continue to be one.”

She said one of the main concerns is social media. “Social proof mediated by technology. That’s just one way in which the current system can be abused because we may not know if supporters are real or if this is coming from people within or outside Canada.”

She added foreign intervention could happen simply through the use of bots.

“Using bots to seem to show — let’s say tweets — have more supporters than they do when they’re actually just bots re-tweeting something. So, this can seem to a normal person who is logging on like there are lots and lots of people who like a particular sentiment. But in fact, is just a lot of automated re-tweets and likes.”

How can people tell if the group they’re looking at is legit?

“Even people who are experts in this have been fooled,” said Tworek.

“One study has shown that before the 2016 election in the United States, 32 out of 33 major reliable media outlets were fooled into reproducing tweets that seemed to be created by real Americans. But it later turned out they were… created by the Russian Internet Research Agency.”

She said if experts are having trouble with this, it’s extremely difficult for ordinary people to see the difference. She advises you try to look up the person who created the group, check the origins of the group, and double check if reputable news outlets have also reported the same quotes.

Tworek said allowing researchers to access data from social media companies could also help get a better scope of the problem.

“The problem of permanent campaigning, which is happening even before the writ period… We know the parties are advertising on Facebook. That’s the most widely used social media network in Canada. But it’s hard for us to know the sorts of ads that are being sent out because we don’t have a public repository of ads. Ads are now individualized. They’re reaching people based on their interests. We don’t actually know what types of ads people are being shown. That’s something that would be extremely useful.”

She also believes government should consider fining those companies if they don’t hold a certain standard.

“I want to emphasize that this is not about government controlling the online space, censoring it, or curtailing free expression. Rather, it’s about figuring out how we foster free and fair participation in elections, where all Canadian citizens can have a chance to discuss.”

Insiders tell the Canadian Press the Liberals want to do more to ensure foreign actors or money are not involved in elections, require more transparency for political messaging on social media, and prevent political parties from setting up ostensible advocacy groups to support them and help skirt spending limits.

– With files from Amelia John and the Canadian Press