With the federal election just over a year away, the majority of adults in Canada’s Prairies suspect the Russian government uses social media to meddle in the elections of Western democracies.
According to a Nanos Research poll for CTV News, in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan 80.5 per cent of respondents said Russian meddling is believable or somewhat believable, while 12.9 per cent said it’s not.
Though this number represents the majority of residents, it is the lowest out of all parts of Canada with Ontario being the highest.
In terms of gender, men and women are evenly split with 88 per cent believing in Russian meddling.
Where the poll, which surveyed 1,000 Canadians, did find a slight disparity is with age: 85 per cent of people age 18-54 believe Russia uses social media to meddle, while 94 per cent of those over 55 hold this same belief.
In the United States, a 2017 intelligence assessment found that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign in which cyberattacks targeted the 2016 election.
