As cross-border tensions continue to escalate, American-owned social media platforms are a major attack vector against Canadian democracy.
In January, a public inquiry into foreign election interference raised concerns about the threat of hostile nations, such as China and Russia, meddling in Canada’s democracy.
While these worries are well founded, Canadians should be equally concerned about the threat posed by our southern neighbour and erstwhile closest ally, the United States, whose tech companies control nearly all our digital public infrastructure, and whose leaders are increasingly aligned with a second Donald Trump administration which poses a direct threat to Canadian sovereignty.
These threats are not a matter of speculation. Just weeks ago, Elon Musk threatened to critically undermine the digital infrastructure of Ukraine, another apparent U.S. ally, after it rejected a proposal for at least partial American control over its critical mineral resources.
As Canadians prepare to vote in a federal election in 2025, it would be naïve to think we are immune from the global authoritarian trend which is being heavily fuelled by the power and influence of Silicon Valley.
There are a variety of interventions available to combat Big Tech’s power in Canada, ranging from promoting alternative social media sources, to imposing stricter taxes and procedural requirements on tech platforms, to even forced divestment.
Although any such action would be provocative, the U.S.-declared trade war is upon us, so the time is ripe to safeguard Canadian democracy against the threat posed by American dominance of our digital communications.
Effectively mitigating this threat will be a challenge. The federal government could impose national ownership requirements, such as those that exist for broadcasters or telecommunications companies.
This would effectively force American social media companies to either divest their Canadian operations or depart the country, a similar choice that was presented to TikTok after the U.S. passed a similar law targeting the Chinese-owned social media application last year.
Although such a move would be sure to anger powerful American interests, one might argue that, with the U.S.-declared trade war already underway, now is the time for bold countermeasures.
If forced divestment is too provocative, Canada could follow the European Union in imposing stronger procedural requirements on platforms, which would help to bring transparency and public oversight to their operations and guard against covert attempts at public manipulation.
This, too, would likely generate an angry response from Washington. Tech CEOs have already been seeking to mobilize the Trump administration to fight EU regulation. However, at this point, Canadian sovereignty and election integrity require that our leaders be clear-eyed about the threat we face.
