Online media manipulators often use specific techniques to hide the source of the false and problematic information they circulate. The authors label this strategy “source hacking.” Typically used during breaking news events, source hacking targets journalists and other influential public figures to pick up falsehoods and unknowingly amplify them to the public.

This report explores how digital foreign interference (DFI) uses the Internet to create and proliferate disinformation and misinformation. It suggests that responding effectively to DFI will require a multifaceted and flexible approach, with Internet companies and social media firms set to be held accountable for the information they disseminate and post on their sites.

In this report, the authors investigate fake news landscapes around the world and analyses a range of measures adopted by governments to combat disinformation.

This report draws upon the experiences of other Western states that have faced active threats from Russian disinformation and the disruption of their democratic processes. Using the insights from these case studies, the report outlines tools that Canada can use to protect its elections and the democratic processes that underpin them.

Today’s media environment differs considerably from the era in which Mad flourished. But it could be argued that consumers are dealing with many of the same issues, from devious advertising to mendacious propaganda.