Social media served as an “accelerant” for the spread of impactful “misinformation and disinformation” during last winter’s protests of COVID-19 restrictions, says the report of the inquiry into the invocation of the Emergencies Act released on Feb. 17.
“I have no doubt that misinformation about COVID-19 influenced the views of some protesters and how they assessed the quality of government health measures,” wrote Commissioner Paul Rouleau.
In setting up the inquiry, the Liberal cabinet gave Rouleau a separate mandate from the one given by Parliament and required by law, asking that he examine the “impact, role and sources of misinformation and disinformation, including the use of social media.”…