MEO Director Aengus Bridgman was recently featured in Savoir média's digital series La guerre des cerveaux (War of the Mind), in an episode titled, Les algorithmes comme armes de guerres (Algorithms as weapons of war).
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Published on: 27 Mar 2026
April 21, 2025 | In an interview with The New York Times, Aengus Bridgman warns that Meta’s 2023 news ban on Facebook and Instagram in Canada has left the country’s online media environment vulnerable to disinformation and polarization ahead of the federal election. With mainstream news blocked, hyperpartisan pages like Canada Proud have surged in popularity, spreading misleading content and amplifying political division.
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Published on: 25 Apr 2025
April 18, 2025 | In an interview with The Guardian, Media Ecosystem Observatory Executive Director Aengus Bridgman warned of a dramatic surge in fake political content on social media as Canadians prepare to vote in the federal election. Bridgman explains that, despite Meta’s ban on Canadian news sharing, more than half of Canadians still rely on Facebook for political information—now increasingly shaped by fake headlines, fraudulent ads, and deepfake videos.
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Published on: 25 Apr 2025
How disinformation, fake news and foreign interference threaten Canadian election | Montreal Gazette
March 31, 2025 | Aengus Bridgman, director of the  (MEO), spoke with The Gazette about the threats of fake news, deepfakes and foreign interference infiltrating your social media feed have never been higher. He cites an evolving geopolitical landscape, a reduction of safeguards by the main social media platforms and the advent of generative AI as game changers in the lead-up to election day on April 28.
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Published on: 3 Apr 2025
March 31, 2025 | Aengus Bridgman, director of the  (MEO), explains about the state of the major platforms in Canada in 2025, how our information ecosystem is vulnerable to misinformation, and what we should be doing about it. A contributor to studies on information issues in multiple federal and provincial elections, he is one of Canada’s leading experts on misinformation, digital activism, and the politics of digital media.
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Published on: 3 Apr 2025
March 21, 2025 | Aengus Bridgman, director of the  (MEO), explains what worries him about the information voters are getting online this election and how to make sure one doesn't get duped on a . Since the last election social media landscape has changed a lot since the online news act came into affect.
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Published on: 25 Mar 2025
Conspiracy theories alleging that Hurricane Milton was geo-engineered and was directed to hit areas with a concentration of Republican voters are rife on social media platforms and there are concerns that this is hindering disaster relief efforts. Here is an expert from Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ who can provide comment on this issue:
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Published on: 11 Oct 2024
Misinformation linked to the COVID-19 pandemic is playing a larger-than-expected role in the federal election, fuelling protests and support for the People’s Party of Canada, experts say. Throughout the election, hostile protests have dogged the campaign of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. On Monday, anti-vaccination protests targeted hospitals across the country – the ongoing protests have also garnered significant media coverage, getting more attention than issues like Afghanistan or gun control.
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Published on: 16 Sep 2021
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Published on: 18 Aug 2021
The Max Bell School's Media Ecosystem Observatory is out with a new research paper on vaccine hesitancy in Canada.
Some of the key findings:
Sixty-five percent of Canadians intend to take a vaccine, with some slight erosion since a high in July. Approximately 15 percent of Canadians are unwilling, and an additional 20 percent are unsure.Â
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Published on: 26 Apr 2021
Misinformation about COVID-19 is spreading from the United States into Canada, undermining efforts to mitigate the pandemic. A led by Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ shows that Canadians who use social media are more likely to consume this misinformation, embrace false beliefs about COVID-19, and subsequently spread them.
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Published on: 6 Apr 2021
A new study led by researchers at Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ finds that people who get their news from social media are more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19. Those that consume more traditional news media have fewer misperceptions and are more likely to follow public health recommendations like social distancing.
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Published on: 29 Jul 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has united Canadians more than any other event in decades, according to a new study by Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ and University of Toronto researchers. The study found that among Canadians, there is cross-partisan consensus on the threat the virus poses and measures that need to be taken to battle it. The study also found that when there isn’t a consensus – which is the case in the United States – compliance with physical distancing guidelines is undermined, which poses an obvious threat.
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Published on: 25 May 2020
Canada's response to the pandemic contrasts markedly with the political partisanship displayed in U.S.
A new study by researchers from Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ and the University of Toronto finds a cross-partisan consensus on battling COVID-19 in Canada. Unlike in the U.S., this consensus is fostering broad agreement on the threats posed by the pandemic and the actions necessary to contain it – all of which is crucial to efforts to fight the virus.
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Published on: 25 May 2020
A new study by researchers from Â鶹´«Ã½ÍøÕ¾ and the University of Toronto finds a cross-partisan consensus on battling COVID-19 in Canada. Unlike in the U.S., this consensus is fostering broad agreement on the threats posed by the pandemic and the actions necessary to contain it – all of which is crucial to efforts to fight the virus.
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Published on: 25 May 2020
