Ottawa sees influencers as way to fight disinformation

Spending on online campaigns part of effort to 'evolve with the times'

- MICKEY DJURIC

Treasury Board President Anita Anand says she worries about how easy it is for disinformation to be spread on platforms where young people spend their time. Since 2021, Ottawa has spent at least $1.7 million on social media influencers and marketing strategies.

Her kids are not reading the newspapers on her kitchen counter. Instead, they're looking at their phones to find information.

That's the example Treasury Board President Anita Anand brings up when she's asked about the federal government's efforts to get its message out via payments to social-media influencers.

She says it worries her that actors who seek to spread disinformation can more easily do so on the platforms where members of the younger generation, including her own kids, spend their time.

Since 2021, federal government departments and agencies have spent at least $1.7 million on influencers, and influencer marketing campaigns and strategies, documents recently tabled in the House of Commons and publicly available contracts show.

It's just a fraction of what the government otherwise spends on traditional advertising.

"We need to evolve with the times," Anand, who holds the government's purse strings, said at a recent press conference.