OTTAWA — A newly released memo shows Canada’s foreign ministry expressed alarm about its shrinking ability to counter foreign disinformation online due to limited access to data and the evolving tactics of adversaries.
The memo, released by the federal inquiry into foreign interference, noted Canada had led the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism to identify and respond to threats to democracy through open source data analytics.
The memo attributed to Marta Morgan, deputy minister of foreign affairs at the time, warned that this data analytics capacity had grown “increasingly constrained” in recent months — mainly because of a “sudden and unforeseen denial” of sanctioned access to data from social media platforms.
It is unclear when the memo was written, though it appears to be sometime between summer 2020 and October 2022, around the time Morgan retired from the public service.
Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, based at Global Affairs Canada, produces open data analysis to chart trends, strategies and tactics in foreign interference.
It uses commercial and in-house tools to monitor cyberspace for signs of state-sponsored information manipulation.
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