Grade by Grade
B. Civic Awareness · Civic Awareness: Democratic Values, Governance and Rights

Disinformation, Social Media and Foreign Interference

B1.3 A1.2 A1.3About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can explain the difference between misinformation, disinformation and foreign interference.
  • I can describe methods foreign actors use to influence Canadian elections and political discussion, including through social media.
  • I can analyse how these methods threaten democratic values.
  • I can assess the credibility and bias of a source, including social media posts.
  • I can gather evidence from sources that reflect multiple perspectives.

Words to know

misinformation
False or misleading information shared by people who believe it is true.
disinformation
False information created or spread on purpose to deceive or cause harm.
foreign interference
Activity by a foreign state, or people acting for it, that is secret, deceptive or threatening and aims to influence Canada's politics or people.
bot
An automated social media account that posts or shares content without a person writing each post.
deepfake
A realistic fake video, image or audio clip made with artificial intelligence.
credibility
How trustworthy and believable a source is.
bias
A one-sided leaning that can affect how information is chosen or presented.
lateral reading
Checking a source by opening new tabs to see what other trusted sources say about it, instead of only reading the source itself.

Two days before the vote

Two days before an election, a video appears. A candidate seems to say something shocking. It is shared thousands of times before lunch. By the time experts show it is a deepfake made with artificial intelligence, many people have already seen it, and some never see the correction.

Now imagine the video was made by the government of another country that wanted Canadians to distrust each other. That is foreign interference. Democracy depends on citizens making choices based on accurate information, so this is a serious threat.

Three terms to keep straight

  • Misinformation: false information shared by people who believe it. Your uncle forwards a fake health tip because he thinks it will help.
  • Disinformation: false information spread on purpose to deceive or cause harm.
  • Foreign interference: activity by or for a foreign state that is secret, deceptive or threatening, aimed at Canada's politics or people.

Not every foreign influence is interference. Countries openly try to persuade each other all the time through diplomats, public statements and trade talks. That is legal and normal. It becomes interference when it is hidden, dishonest or uses threats.

Methods foreign actors use

  • Disinformation campaigns on social media, sometimes using networks of fake accounts and bots to make a few voices look like many.
  • Amplifying division: pushing both sides of a heated issue to make people angrier at each other.
  • Deepfakes and edited videos or images.
  • Secret funding of candidates, groups or media, hiding where the money really comes from.
  • Pressuring diaspora communities: threatening people in Canada who have family or ties abroad, so they stay silent or vote a certain way. This is sometimes called transnational repression.
  • Cultivating politicians or officials quietly, hoping for influence later.
  • Cyber attacks, such as hacking and leaking emails.

How these methods threaten democratic values

  • Democracy: voters choose based on false information, or lose trust in the result.
  • Freedom: people who are threatened stop speaking freely.
  • Rule of law: hidden money breaks election finance laws.
  • Human rights and equality: campaigns often target particular communities.

Even when interference does not change who wins, it can weaken trust, which is a big part of what holds a democracy together.

Foreign actorplans a falseor divisive storyFake accountsand bots postit many timesReal peopleshare itwithout checkingFeeds andalgorithmsspread it furtherEffect: lesstrust, moredivisionBreak the chain at step 3: stop and check before you share.
How a disinformation campaign can travel. Real people sharing without checking is the step that gives it the most reach, which is also where you can stop it.

What Canada has done

  • Elections Canada runs federal elections. The Canada Elections Act limits who can spend money to influence an election and prohibits foreign entities from unduly influencing voters.
  • The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force brings together security and intelligence agencies to watch for threats during federal elections.
  • Under the Critical Election Incident Public Protocol, a panel of senior public servants would tell Canadians publicly if something threatened a free and fair election.
  • In 2024 Parliament passed the Countering Foreign Interference Act, which, among other things, provided for a foreign influence transparency registry.
  • The Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference, led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue, released its final report in January 2025. It found that foreign interference had happened but that there was no evidence it changed the overall results of the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. It called disinformation "an existential threat" to Canadian democracy and stressed that citizens' own information habits are an important defence.

Your defence: checking sources

The political inquiry process asks you to select evidence from a variety of sources, including social and traditional media, that reflect multiple perspectives, and to assess their credibility and bias. Here are the main questions:

  • Who made it? A named journalist, a government agency, an anonymous account?
  • Why was it made? To inform, persuade, sell or provoke?
  • When? Is it current? Old photos are often reposted as "new".
  • Evidence? Does it link to data, documents or named sources?
  • Bias? Every source has a perspective. Bias does not make a source useless, but you must notice it and balance it with others.
  • Primary or secondary? A primary source is first-hand (a law's text, a video of a speech, official results). A secondary source interprets it (a news analysis). Try to trace claims back to a primary source.

A quick method many fact-checkers teach is SIFT.

SStopPause. How doesthis make me feel?IInvestigateWho made it?What is their aim?FFind betterWhat do trustedoutlets report?TTraceFind the originalclaim, quote, image
The SIFT method. Fact-checkers often spend more time reading about a source (in other tabs) than reading the source itself. That is called lateral reading.
Worked example

Modelled example: Checking a viral post

A post from an account called @TrueNorthFacts99 says: "BREAKING: Election day moved to next week in Ontario! Share before they delete this!" It has 40 000 shares. Is it credible?

  1. Stop: the post uses urgency ("BREAKING", "before they delete this") and wants a quick share. That is a warning sign.
  2. Investigate the source: the account has no real name, was created last month, and posts dozens of times a day on many topics. That pattern can suggest a bot or a fake account.
  3. Find better coverage: the official election agency's website and major news outlets say nothing about a change.
  4. Trace the claim: the post links to no official notice. Changing an election date would require an official announcement.
  5. Judge: not credible. Spreading false information about when to vote can stop people from voting, which harms democracy whether or not the creator was foreign.

The post is disinformation (or misinformation, if the people sharing it believe it). Do not share it. Check the official election agency for voting dates, and report the post to the platform.

Worked example

Modelled example: Comparing two sources with different perspectives

You are researching a proposed new pipeline. Source A is a report from an industry association. Source B is a statement from an environmental group. How do you use them?

  1. Identify each perspective: Source A likely stresses jobs and economic benefits; Source B likely stresses environmental risks.
  2. Check credibility: both are real organizations with known aims. Both may be accurate about some facts while choosing which facts to highlight.
  3. Add more perspectives: the views of First Nations whose territory the route crosses, a government regulator's report, and a news article that interviews several sides.
  4. Compare facts: where the sources agree (for example, the route's length), you can be more confident. Where they disagree, look for independent data.
  5. Use and cite: quote each source as a perspective ("According to the industry association..."), not as neutral fact.

Biased sources are still useful evidence of a group's perspective. Balance them with others, including the communities most affected, and check facts against independent or primary sources.

Just for fun

A famous quote says: "A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." It is often credited to Mark Twain, but researchers have found no evidence he said it. So a quote about misinformation is itself a piece of misinformation. The truth is still lacing up.

Hands-on activity

Feed audit with a grown-up

You need: a phone, tablet or computer with a news or social media app, a grown-up, paper and a pencil.

  1. With your grown-up, scroll through 15 posts about news or politics (on a platform you are allowed to use, or a news site).
  2. For each, write: the source, whether it is news, opinion, an ad or unclear, and how it made you feel (calm, angry, scared).
  3. Circle any post that made you feel strongly. Strong feelings are when people share without checking.
  4. Pick one claim and run SIFT on it, using lateral reading (open new tabs; search the source's name; check a trusted news outlet or the official source).
  5. Find out how the platform lets you report false content. Do not report anything unless you checked it.
  6. Write a short paragraph: what did you find, and what will you do differently before sharing?

Safety note for grown-ups: stay with your teen during this activity, and use it as a chance to review privacy settings.

Your turn

1

What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?

2

When does foreign influence become foreign interference?

3

Name three methods foreign actors may use to interfere.

4

Explain how threatening people in a diaspora community harms freedom.

5

What does each letter of SIFT stand for?

6

What did the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference (final report 2025) conclude about the 2019 and 2021 federal elections?

7

Is a biased source useless for research? Explain.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is a deepfake?

2

What is a bot?

3

Which agency runs federal elections in Canada?

4

Give one example of a primary source about an election.

5

What is lateral reading?

More practice: on your own

1

A post with a dramatic photo of a flooded city says "This happened in Ontario yesterday." How could you check it?

2

Why might a foreign actor push both sides of a heated Canadian debate?

3

An anonymous account posts a claim with no links. A named reporter at a major outlet reports the opposite and links to court documents. Which is more credible and why?

4

Explain why interference can harm democracy even if it does not change who wins.

5

List four perspectives you should include when researching whether a new mine should open in northern Ontario.

Challenge

1

Some people argue that social media companies should remove all false political content; others say this gives companies too much power over speech. Explain both perspectives and the values behind each.

2

Design a three-step plan a school could use to help students recognize disinformation before a municipal election.

3

Evaluate this statement: "If interference didn't change the election results, it isn't a real problem."

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Someone shares a false story because they honestly believe it. This is:

2.

Which is an example of foreign interference rather than normal influence?

3.

What does the T in SIFT stand for?

4.

Which is a warning sign that a post may be disinformation?

5.

What did the 2025 final report of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference find about the 2019 and 2021 elections?

6.

Lateral reading means:

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Expectation B1.3 asks students to analyse how foreign actors try to influence Canada's democratic values, elections and political discussion, including on social media. The lesson also builds source-checking skills (A1.2, A1.3) used in every later investigation.

How to help: Do the feed audit together. When you see a dramatic story, model SIFT out loud: "Who posted this? Let's check another source." Avoid blaming any particular community: foreign interference is done by states, and diaspora communities are often its main targets.

Common difficulties:

  • Thinking any foreign opinion is interference. Stress the words secret, deceptive and threatening.
  • Thinking biased sources should be thrown out. They are useful as perspectives when balanced.
  • Reading a source more and more closely instead of checking it from outside (lateral reading).