Policy recommendations for legislating misinformation

Abstract

Misinformation and disinformation have contributed to erosion of trust in institutions, climate change denial, and mistrust in electoral democracy. The bills introduced by Canada to tackle this issue fail to define what misinformation and disinformation are and are overly vague, and thus are unlikely to be effective at achieving their aims. Canada should introduce new legislation taking lessons from countries with more robust legislation and bills such as France, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand. Canada should criminalize election and health disinformation while adding conditions to criminal liability to maintain an appropriate balance between freedom of speech and privacy protection. Canada should also introduce a mandatory Code of Practice on Misinformation to tackle misinformation regarding elections, health, and other important non-urgent matters. The code should make digital companies liable for not removing or labeling health misinformation.