Academics grappling with effects of online misinformation on people’s behaviour

An academic who studies the flow of information in an era of mistruths and polarized views says it is very difficult to gauge the effect of media content on people’s behaviour.

Taylor Owen, an associate professor at McGill University, told a public inquiry into foreign interference today that behaviour is not determined by any one specific piece of content.

Rather, he said, it is influenced by the sum total of a person’s experiences, beliefs, values, politics and overall media consumption. 

Owen is co-principal investigator of the Media Ecosystem Observatory, a collaboration between McGill and the University of Toronto, which combines large-scale online data analysis with survey research.

The federal inquiry’s latest public hearings are focusing on the ability of agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.

The hearings are examining the practices of various institutions and the experiences of diaspora communities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024