NATIONAL OBSERVER | They're teaching young voters not to be duped by 'fake news'
Samantha Reusch is aiming to help young Canadians identify misinformation online because she and her colleagues can't monitor all social media platforms for false information during this fall's campaign.
Reusch is the research manager at Apathy is Boring, a non-profit organization that encourages youth to engage in politics. She says misinformation on social media can be a barrier between young Canadians and political participation. Reusch said students don't learn enough about these issues in school, necessitating the awareness campaign.
"Civic education is not consistent across Canada. Provinces have varying degrees of civic curriculum in a high school level or elementary school level," she said.
Understanding how social media work is a crucial and important part of a systematic response to misinformation, said Elizabeth Dubois, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Ottawa. But first, the country needs a better idea of how widespread of an issue misinformation is, she said. Researchers with the Public Policy Forum and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University in Montreal are aiming to do just this fall. Their Digital Democracy Project will track how news and information is shared and digested leading up to the Oct. 21 vote.
