Federal government concerned about election interference in messaging apps

The federal government is concerned about the risk of voter coercion and election interference through popular messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

The concerns were written down in a briefing note sent to the President of the Privy Council Dominic LeBlanc, which was obtained by the CBC.

“As the platforms move towards private/encrypted conversations as the foundation of how they work, concerns have been raised about the capacity of the tools used for private communications to potentially undermine [Canada Elections Act] provisions, or to facilitate the potential for voter coercion or foreign interference,” the briefing note reads.

It also touches on how this would likely introduce difficult situations, such as trade-offs between respecting the privacy of private communications and protecting the electoral system. These concerns could essentially pit the right of citizens’ privacy against the country’s election laws.

A spokesperson for LeBlanc told the CBC that the government is working with social media platforms and Elections Canada to ensure the integrity of the country’s democratic processes.

This isn’t a new concern since. For instance, during the 2019 election campaign, government officials said that they found attempts to spread misinformation, but that it wasn’t severe enough to issue a public warning.

Source: CBC News

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