A recent Canadian government study titled “Concern about misinformation—connections to trust in media, confidence in institutions, civic engagement and hopefulness, 2023/2024” has sparked debate over its implications for free expression.

Published by Statistics Canada, the report aimed to investigate the impact of online “misinformation,” defined as “news or information that is verifiably false or inaccurate.”

🚨UPDATE: TDF troubled by government's study of "misinformation"

The Democracy Fund is voicing concern that the government's study on misinformation will be used to restrict free speech.

The Canadian government recently announced the results of a study entitled "Concern about… pic.twitter.com/jiNi3dyYTI

— The Democracy Fund (@TDF_Can) June 20, 2025

The Democracy Fund (TDF), a registered Canadian charity dedicated to advancing constitutional rights, calls the definition of misinformation “circular.”

“The phrase ‘verifiably false or inaccurate’ just rephrases what misinformation by definition already is - a falsehood that can be checked,” reads the TDF press release.

This rephrasing of what misinformation is already defined as fails to address deeper issues of trust in institutions, increasingly and especially eroded during the COVID-19 response.

Chief Public Health necromancer, Theresa Tam, unscientifically references a debunked simulation model that has been criticized for glaring biases, claiming that vaccine "misinformation" caused thousands of deaths and millions in hospital costs. Tam's comments highlight the… pic.twitter.com/yqlS5t2DDQ

— Tamara Ugolini 🇨🇦 (@TamaraUgo) January 21, 2025

Citing a “flawed premise,” TDF states that “the study attempts to associate the concern for ‘misinformation’ with less trust in institutions and media.”

"It claims that Canadians reporting lower levels of concern about misinformation tend to trust institutions like the justice system and courts more, compared to those who are more concerned. It also notes that concern about misinformation was associated with lower levels of hopefulness about national unity.

The study attempts to justify the position that online ‘misinformation’ is a problem that needs to be solved, presumably by government intervention. “However, the study fails to consider whether the lowered trust in institutions and media might be a rational response to lower trustworthiness exhibited by institutions and media,” TDF contends.

Theresa Tam, who has never treated patients, leads the Public Health Agency of Canada. During a panel on Canada's information environment focused on misinformation, Tam predicts the next pandemic will be harder to address due to public distrust of new tech like the… pic.twitter.com/ZrRESPQMY1

— Tamara Ugolini 🇨🇦 (@TamaraUgo) January 22, 2025

TDF draws on case law including the 2021 Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling, which struck down a Canada Elections Act provision banning knowingly false statements about a candidate’s character during elections as unconstitutional for failing to meet Charter requirements. Similarly, in R. v. Zundel (1992), the Supreme Court of Canada declared section 181 of the Criminal Code, which prohibited willful publication of known false statements likely to harm public interest, unconstitutional, as it did not serve a significant purpose to justify limiting free speech under the Charter.

"Canadians do not need governments acting as gatekeepers of truth, particularly when it concerns political, social or moral issues: individuals are just as, or more, capable than government bureaucrats to determine whether to believe a piece of information or not,” said TDF’s Litigation Director, Mark Joseph. “This is a solution in search of a problem, where the solution proposed by the government is almost always ‘more government.’”

As trust in institutions wanes, the study’s call for intervention risks further eroding public confidence. Rather than policing information, fostering transparency and accountability in media and government may better address the root causes of skepticism. With free speech protections enshrined in the Charter, Canadians deserve policies that empower individual discernment over state-imposed narratives.

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