Social media needs to be held accountable for Russian propaganda, Mélanie Joly says

OTTAWA—For Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, there is one tool that’s not only paved the way for, but sustained, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: disinformation.

And she wants to position Canada as a leader on tackling misleading content online, starting with social media.

“Propaganda is not only happening in Russia, it’s happening in new virtual battlegrounds, which are our social media companies,” Joly said Friday in conversation with Janice Stein, founding director of the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.

“So what Canada will be doing, and what I want to make sure that we push even more… is (that) social media companies need to do more to prevent propaganda, and to counter any forms of disinformation,” the minister added.

“They’re not technological companies, they’re content producers. And they have a responsibility and they have to step up to the plate.”

Russian disinformation throughout the invasion has taken many forms, from how Moscow has justified its aggression to its own citizens, to how it has depicted Ukraine’s military response, and how it has reacted to international backlash and media coverage.

Just this week, an unconvincing yet unsettling deepfake video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appearing to yield to Russia was scrubbed from Facebook and YouTube. And on Friday, Western members of the United Nations Security Council accused Russia of sowing disinformation over claims — which have gained traction online — that the US is backing biological weapons labs in Ukraine.

Joly said she would have more to say on holding social media companies to account in the “coming weeks”.

“This misinformation has had an impact on Russia. It has an impact in many countries,” Joly said. “Let’s be frank. We need to counter it. We need to re-engage Canada. Diplomacy needs to be at its best.”