To protect Canada's electoral system from foreign interference, the federal government made has several amendments to the Canada Elections Act through Bill C-76, the Elections Modernization Act.
However, federal government's efforts to prevent foreign interference in the upcoming federal election may prove fruitless, as the Minister of Democratic Institutions, Karina Gould pointed out during the Senate's legal and constitutional affairs committee.
The spread of false information on Facebook during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections has influenced the amendments that Bill C-76 has made in Section 91 of the Canada Elections Act in effort to prevent the influence of election results, by prohibiting anyone from making or publishing false statements about candidates, potential candidates, or political and public figures. Also, the Bill prohibits making false statements about political candidates during the election period. However, these amendments are limited as Bill C-76 cannot prevent false statements made through social media. These platforms can still publish false information or be willfully blind to fake news, with the intention of influencing election results. This bill stipulates that only those who publish false information during an election period will be subject to punishment. Thus, the bill cannot punish those who spread the false information prior to an election period, leaning false statements still remain accessible.
