In a recent survey conducted by Maru Public Opinion, over 48% of Canadians said that they aren’t confident in their ability to distinguish online/ social media content generated by AI v/s content created by humans. Well, stick to this guide to know how you can guard yourself against online discrimination in Canada. On a larger level, the number is notable because it suggests that almost half of Canadians are unsure they can decide what is real & what is fake. 

Adding this to the fact, over 71% of respondents indicated that they do not believe that governments will be able to regulate companies that generate AI content for online/ social media use. However, it is evident that online disinformation is an integral concern for people around the nation.

For reasons ranging from lack of familiarity with AI content to increased vulnerability, because individuals are willing to do whatever it takes to come to Canada, recent & prospective newcomers might be more likely to fall victim to AI-generated fake content. Below is how you can guard yourself against online discrimination in Canada. 

The Rapid Growth Of AI 

The use of AI has rapidly increased. From industries like social media to finance, healthcare, etc., AI has been a resource that has simplified work for human workforces in numerous ways. 

On the contrary, the growth of AI has also seen an increasing number of bad actors using this technology to spread disinformation, victimize families, & execute scams, among other negative actions. In fact, a report from June showed that scammers used voice-cloning AI to scam a Saskatchewan woman out of more than $7,000 by impersonating her grandson. 

Generally, people also use AI to create fake images & other pieces of content that trick others into believing things that aren’t true. They create ‘Deepfakes’ using a real person’s document, taking a photo of it & turning it into a 3D persona. Across the nation, data collected by online identity verification service Sumsub asserts that the proportion of deepfakes rose from 0.1% in 2022 to 4.6% in Q1 2023. 

Although AI has clear benefits for the Canadian workforce & daily life in this nation, people all over Canada & specifically targeted groups like prospective & recent newcomers must remain aware of AI & understand what they can do to ensure they keep themselves & their families safe from online disinformation. 

Protecting Yourself From Online Disinformation 

When it comes to guarding yourself against online discrimination in Canada, the governments at federal & provincial levels in this nation have sole authority over all matters related to immigration & temporary residence.

In simpler terms, you can safely assume that any information you find online is untrustworthy if a government source does not reinforce it. Beyond checking to see if a government source can verify online content, the Canadian government provides a dedicated webpage with tips on recognizing online discrimination, tools for fact-checking & additional resources to help with this procedure. 

Some of the advice given on this page includes: 

  • Fact-check information by using a fact-checking tool, verifying the source of the content & checking other sources to verify what you see online 

There are verifying online fact-checking tools that newcomers to Canada can use to see if a piece of news has already been flagged as fake. One of the tools is MediaSmarts Fact Search. 

Clicking on the piece of content, if it were real, should lead you to the source of the content. If the piece of content you are viewing does not lead you to the source you can confidently say is trustworthy, the content is likely fake. 

Lastly, see if you can find the content you are viewing in other places online. While this is not a perfect strategy because of the rapid use of AI for negative purposes, online content is less likely to be real if you cannot find it in more than one place. 

  • Identity fake social media accounts by looking at the profile photo, verification status, follower-to-engagement ratio & typos 

More often than not, fake social media accounts will not have a profile picture or will use one copied from elsewhere online. Another sign of a fake account is that it consistently and clearly has typos, spelling errors, grammar errors, etc., which are not usual for real and trusted sources of information.

Lastly, unverified accounts on social media platforms with a high number of followers & low engagement might need to be viewed with extra caution as the Canadian government views this as an innovation that an account might be fake.

  • Conduct a reverse image search 

A reverse image search can be conducted on Google as well as other platforms to see if an image found online appears anywhere else on the internet. For instance, a reverse image search will be helpful to see if the profile picture used by an account is a copy or to verify the legitimacy of the image based on wherever it appears online.