Our Priorities

Online Safety

Girl at school desk on smartphone

Canadians are increasingly turning to social media for news and commentary on the issues of the day. Unfortunately, this means that we are also subjected to, and are often victims of, disinformation, misinformation, as well as harmful and illegal content online.

In order to tackle this growing problem, we must restore transparency and accountability to our online spaces. That means dismantling the disinformation economy that funds the poisoning of our civil discourse and mandating that social media platforms are held accountable for amplifying the toxic content on their platforms.

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In anticipation of federal legislation tackling online harms, Friends of Canadian Media commissioned The Gandalf Group to conduct a survey of Canadians to take their pulse on whether social media platforms should be regulated.

Read the Report.

Research commissioned by FRIENDS from the Gandalf Group shows the Canadian public are concerned about the ubiquity of harmful online content. And they expect policymakers to act.

When it comes to the sprawling power of tech giants to spread online hate and harm, Canadians expect their federal government to do some gatekeeping. Even those who identify as Conservative voters are practically begging Ottawa to get into the grill of the Zuckerbergs and Musks to do some unapologetic regulating.

Read the report.

The early internet held out the promise of Eden but delivered anarchy instead. Nowhere is this anarchy and its consequences more evident than on social media, particularly Facebook and YouTube.

This timely and essential paper documents how these platforms have been overrun by hate speech, threats, and other illegal or otherwise objectionable content. It makes a compelling argument that Canadian law, while certainly imperfect, is decently equipped to beat back the online harms— individual, social, and political—with which platforms like Facebook are increasingly synonymous.

Read the report.

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