Canada’s government has launched a major taxpayer-funded effort to censor the Canadian people online, arguing that “disinformation” is threatening the nation’s “democracy.”
The Canadian government is pumping millions of tax dollars into “research projects” that claim to “combat online disinformation.”
A total of 16 such schemes will receive a whopping $1.2 million of taxpayer money each.
In an announcement about the move, the federal government’s Department of Canadian Heritage justified the effort by insisting that censoring the public online is “essential” to “preserve democracy.”
The department claims that the government’s efforts to financially strengthen “the war on misinformation” are necessary to safeguard freedom of expression.
“Our democracy relies on a common set of facts,” the Canada Heritage declares in the official announcement.
Do not expect this “common set of facts” to be defined, however.
As we’ve seen repeatedly in recent years, vague terms are frequently used by those in power to censor thought and speech, which is typically flagged as so-called “misinformation” or “disinformation.”
Such terms are usually used to describe information that conflicts with the official narrative while they avoid stating, or proving, that the info is false.
The implication is that without having this nebulous “common set of facts,” as well as “reliable sources of information” – and with citizens expressing themselves freely – democracy fails.
But not because of any government overreach, (un)justified spending, or constant and puzzling “misinformation” witch-hunts, of course.
Democracy will apparently fail because of “the increase in harmful content online, including misinformation and disinformation,” the government site asserts.
The $1.2 is part of the money earmarked for the Digital Citizen Contribution Program (DCCP).
Yet the sum is a drop in the ocean as far as DCCP funding goes.
In total, it will be given $31 million over a period of four years.
Online “disinformation” is high on the list of evils that the DCCP is set up to combat while ensuring something referred to as “social cohesion.”
Perhaps by coincidence, the same turn of phrase has recently started to crop up in many World Economic Forum (WEF) pamphlets.
The WEF has also made fighting “misinformation” a top priority, listing it as one of the top “global risks” for the next few years.
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