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April 24, 2025 | With less than a week before the federal election, Taylor Owen sat down with Jim Balsillie—former co-CEO of Research in Motion and one of Canada’s most prominent business leaders—to discuss why Canada’s economy is falling behind and what must change. As Donald Trump escalates attacks on the Canadian economy and hints at turning Canada into the “51st state,” Balsillie argues the real threat to Canadian sovereignty isn’t Trump—it’s decades of political complacency and corporate capture.

Classified as: taylor owen, Canadian elections, economy
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Published on: 25 Apr 2025

March 24, 2025 | In a recent interview with CBC, Taylor Owen, Director of the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, warned that Canada’s online media environment is more fragile and susceptible to manipulation than ever before. As trust in journalism declines, Owen explains, disinformation that once existed on the fringes is now entering the mainstream—largely through social media platforms.

Classified as: taylor owen, media ecosystem observatory, Canadian elections
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Published on: 25 Apr 2025

April 16, 2025 | In an interview on The Paul Wells Show, Taylor Owen, founding director of the Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy at °ÄżÍľş˛Ę, raised urgent concerns about online election interference in Canada. Drawing from his work with the Media Ecosystem Observatory, Owen explains how foreign and domestic actors attempt to sway public opinion through misinformation and platform manipulation. He emphasizes that while online interference is not always overt, its cumulative effect undermines democratic processes.

Classified as: taylor owen, media ecosystem observatory, Canadian elections
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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.

Classified as: Aengus Bridgman, media ecosystem observatory, Election, Canadian elections
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Published on: 25 Apr 2025

March 2025 | In a 2024 policy brief for the Collectif québécois pour la prévention de l’itinérance (CQPI), Pearl Eliadis, alongside Melissa Shemirani and Angelina Freeman, highlights the urgent need for increased investment in second-stage shelters for women and children fleeing domestic and intimate partner violence. Building on a 2022 recommendation from CQPI’s Gender Research Stream, the team conducted a rapid literature review that found second-stage housing plays a vital role in bridging the gap between emergency shelters and permanent housing.

Classified as: violence, Pearl Eliadis, housing
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Published on: 23 Apr 2025

March 20, 2025 | In a CBC interview, Pearl Eliadis criticized Quebec’s Bill 94, arguing that the government is fully aware the legislation violates the Canadian Constitution. She pointed to the use of the notwithstanding clause as proof, saying it allows the government to override fundamental rights because it knows the bill wouldn’t hold up in court. Eliadis described the law as a political tactic by the Coalition Avenir Québec to win support by outdoing the Parti Québécois on issues of identity and language.

Classified as: Quebec, language, Pearl Eliadis
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Published on: 23 Apr 2025

April 15, 2025 | MPP '25 Husein Pumaya Yakubu highlights the limitations of transparency in Ghana’s post-pandemic governance. While former president Nana Akufo-Addo’s transparent communication during COVID-19 initially unified citizens, Yakubu argues it masked deeper issues like economic mismanagement and rising debt. Drawing a parallel with Canada, Yakubu suggests that transparency, while crucial during crises, must be sustained through regular financial updates, stronger oversight, and grassroots participation.

Classified as: MPP students, covid-19, mpp perspectives, Economics
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Published on: 17 Apr 2025

April 9, 2025 | Aengus Bridgman from the Media Ecosystem Observatory was interviewed by CBC’s Farah Nasser, where he highlighted the dangers of unregulated social media during elections. With a vast, active audience and minimal oversight, social media platforms have become prime spaces for information manipulation. Bridgman discusses how misinformation spreads on these platforms and shares key insights on what to look out for in social media feeds as the election approaches.

Classified as: Centre for Media Technology and Democracy, media ecosystem observatory, misinformation, Canadian elections
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Published on: 10 Apr 2025

April 7, 2025 | Taylor Owen and Helen A. Hayes wrote an opinion piece arguing that Canada’s failure to regulate its digital space is no longer just a tech policy issue—it’s a national security concern. With rising disinformation and direct interference from the U.S., Canadians now view the United States as a greater foreign threat than China or Russia. Although the Trudeau government introduced several digital policy bills, including those addressing online harms, AI regulation, and cybersecurity, most were abandoned after Parliament was prorogued.

Classified as: taylor owen, Taylor Owen on Digital Governance, Digital Governace, Digital Media
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Published on: 9 Apr 2025

March 31, 2025 | MPP '25 Nickson Mugabi’s wrote that while Uganda has made efforts to improve fiscal transparency, weak institutions and lack of accountability continue to undermine public trust. Drawing on Niall Ferguson’s warning that transparency without reform can deepen cynicism, Mugabi points to Uganda’s low budget transparency score and high-profile corruption scandals as evidence.

Classified as: africa, External, mpp, fiscal budget
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Published on: 9 Apr 2025

April 3, 2025 | Professor Vincent Rigby and Norman Hillmer, wrote about the lack of strategic approach of Canada to world affairs and how it has been slow to react to rapidly changing threats.

Classified as: Vincent Rigby, diplomacy, Norman Hillmer
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Published on: 3 Apr 2025

April 1, 2025 | Professor Taylor Owen spoke on the new social media regulations as the elections approaches closer. If social-media companies wanted to help improve election integrity, they could share what’s happening on their platforms with researchers, said Owen. X used to give researchers access to its application programming interface (API), or data, but now its most in-depth access level costs about $40,000 a month, mentioned Owen, which effectively shuts out Canadian researchers.

Classified as: taylor owen, Taylor Owen on Digital Governance
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Published on: 3 Apr 2025

April 1, 2025 | Chris Ragan, explained that the end of carbon tax and how it will be affect Canadians in an news article at . Ragan says the drop in prices could be more gradual, though he agrees it is coming. "One of the less charming attributes of capitalism is that prices tend to fall more slowly than they rise," Ragan said.

Classified as: Christopher Ragan, chris ragan, carbon tax
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Published on: 3 Apr 2025

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.

Classified as: Aengus Bridgman
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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.

Classified as: Aengus Bridgman
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Published on: 3 Apr 2025

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