Survey of Online Harms in Canada 2024

Funded by

Authors

Angus Lockhart

Mahtab Laghaei

Sam Andrey

Contributors

• Nina Rafeek Dow
• Mariana Rodrigues 
• Suzanne Bowness
• Sultan Balarabe
• Zaynab Choudhry

Tags

• AI
• Innovation + Tech
• Online Harms
• Social Media

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Methodology

This study was conducted from April 11 to 22, 2024 with Pollara Strategic Insights. In total, 2,501 Canadian residents aged 16 and older were interviewed for the project, using respondents provided by Leger. The sample of 2,501 Canadian residents was weighted by age, gender, language, and region based on the latest Census data, to ensure the sample is representative of Canada as a whole. The complete survey instrument and demographic breakdown of the sample are available in the Appendix, along with methodology information for previous iterations of the study. Totals presented throughout may not sum or add to 100 due to rounding.

Online Media Environment

We asked respondents which online platforms they use and how often they use them. When it comes to habitual platform use (those who use a platform at least a few times a day), Meta-owned platforms are the most used, with more than half saying they use Facebook every day and more than one-third using Messenger (Facebook’s messaging app) and Instagram. The only other platform that sees as many daily users is YouTube with 34 percent of respondents using it at least a few times a day. However, looking at overall platform usage regardless of frequency, YouTube is the most used — only seven percent of respondents say they never use YouTube with a large group using it either a few times a week (28 percent) or a few times a month (20 percent).

Figure 1 - Frequency of use of online platforms in Canada

Caption: "Which of the following best describes how often you typically use the following online platforms:”

Instagram has continued its growth pattern. In 2019, only 48 percent said they use Instagram. In 2022, that rose to 55 percent and now it has risen to 62 percent (+14 percent). Similarly, WhatsApp use rose from 34 percent in 2019 to 46 percent in 2024 (+12). The biggest growth, however, has been by TikTok: in 2019, only 10 percent of Canadian residents reported using this video platform, which increased to 29 percent in 2022 and now is at 34 percent or more than one-third of respondents (+24 percent).

Figure 2 - Overall change in use of online platforms in Canada

Caption: "Which of the following best describes how often you typically use the following online platforms:” % who use each platform at least a few times a year.

The only platform that has seen a significant decline in usage is Twitter/X, which has declined from being used by 44 percent of people living in Canada to only 33 percent of residents now (-11; with only 10 percent saying they use it at least daily, compared to 19 percent in 2019).

For nearly every platform, the youngest cohort is the most likely to be habitual users — 72 percent of those aged 16 to 29 use Instagram daily, 51 percent use YouTube daily, 45 percent use Snapchat daily, and 39 percent use TikTok daily. For all of these platforms, habitual usage declines with age. That decline is most significant for Snapchat where only 12 percent of those aged 30 to 44 use Snapchat daily and less than two percent of those over 44 use it daily.

Figure 3 - Daily platform use by age group

Caption: "Which of the following best describes how often you typically use the following online platforms:” - % who use each platform at least a few times a day.

While the youngest group is far more likely to use YouTube habitually (51 percent of those under 30 use it daily, compared to only 20 percent of those over 60), total usage of the platform is consistent across groups. More than 90 percent of those under 60 report ever using YouTube, and similarly, 87 percent of those 60 and over say they have ever used YouTube.

However, both Facebook and Messenger do not follow the same pattern. For these platforms, those 30 to 44 (a cohort that includes most Millennials) are the most likely to use the platform with 60 percent using Facebook daily and 49 percent using Messenger daily.

Platforms as a news source

While those living in Canada continue to use social media more and more, many still turn to more traditional news sources. News on TV, news websites, and news on the radio are the top three sources that Canadian residents say they use to stay up to date with news and current events, followed closely by search engines which will often lead to news websites.

Figure 4 - Most common news sources in Canada

Caption: “Which of the following do you use to stay up to date with the news or current events?”

After these sources, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are common news sources. While Facebook remains the top social media platform for news (27 percent), it has declined since 2022. Among those who use the platform at all, six percent fewer now report using Facebook as a source to stay up to date on the news — potentially in response to the Online News Act, which we discuss in detail below. However, other social media platforms are now more heavily used as a source of news: among only those who use the platforms, six percent more report using TikTok than in 2022 and four percent more report using Instagram for news. This is growth beyond simply growth in the share of residents using these platforms at all.

Figure 5 - Most common news sources in Canada over time

Caption: “Which of the following do you use to stay up to date with the news or current events?”

Figure 6 - Use of news sources by age in Canada

Caption: “Which of the following do you use to stay up to date with the news or current events?”

Looking at these figures across the population as a whole masks significant differences by age. Younger people rely on dramatically different sources of information than older cohorts. While “news on TV” is the top source of information for those aged 60+ (78 percent using it for news) and those 45 to 59 (61 percent using it for news), only 39 percent of those aged 30 to 44 use TV for news and only 37 percent of those under 30 watch news on TV.

For those under 30, Instagram is the number one source of news and current events: 46 percent say they use it for news. Instagram is followed by search engines (42 percent), TV news (37 percent), news websites (36 percent), YouTube (35 percent), and TikTok (28 percent). TikTok in particular has grown as a news source from 21 percent of those aged 16 to 29 in 2022 (including 32 percent of those 23 and under).

The age differences are most significant for print newspapers. While one-third (33 percent) of the oldest cohort say they use print news to stay current, readership declines dramatically with age. Even among those aged 45 to 59, only 14 percent read print newspapers and among the youngest group only six percent read print news.

Overall, while the oldest Canadians continue to rely heavily on traditional print and TV news, younger Canadians have largely switched to digital news sources — either news websites or, for the youngest, social media.

Figure 7 - Most and least trusted news sources (among users of each source)

Caption: "Which of these would you say you trust the [most/least] for staying up to date with the news or current events?”

Despite the rise of social media as a news source, traditional news delivered on TV, on news websites, and on the radio remain the most trusted source of information, collectively accounting for more than half of Canadians' most trusted news sources.

When asked which news source they trust the least (among only news sources they actively use), most report that there are no news sources that they don’t trust. This suggests that Canadians are avoiding news that they have already deemed not trustworthy. However, for those who did pick a specific source, Facebook was the most distrusted source at 12 percent.

Figure 8 - Perceived impact of Meta’s decision to block news in Canada

Caption: “In response to legislation from the federal government that would require online platforms to compensate news organizations for posting links to news articles, Meta decided to block Canadian news on both Facebook and Instagram. Our survey question asked: To what extent has Meta’s decision to block Canadian news on Facebook and Instagram impacted your ability to stay up to date with the news or current events?”

This distrust is in the shadow of the decision by Meta (in response to the Online News Act from the federal government designed to compensate news organizations) to block Canadian news on both Facebook and Instagram. The majority of respondents felt that this has had no impact on their ability to stay current with the news, but 41 percent say that it has had a negative impact including 15 percent who say it has had a very negative impact.

Digital civic participation

The most common ways that Canadian residents are actively engaging online are by fact-checking information and commenting on or posting about news and politics. Two-thirds of respondents say they have fact-checked something they saw online using a different source, higher among younger respondents (70 percent of those under 30, and 73 percent of those 30 to 44). The largest difference in fact-checking is across the self-identified political spectrum4 — 82 percent of those who say they are on the left also say they have fact-checked something, while 53 percent of those who say they are on the right have done the same.

Figure 9 - Frequency of digital civic participation in Canada

Caption: "Have you ever experienced any of the following?”

When it comes to commenting or posting online about news or politics, 31 percent say they have ever done it, with men (35 percent) being more likely than women (27 percent) to have posted. Similarly, respondents with higher education levels were more likely to say they have commented or posted about news or politics online — 34 percent of those with a university degree have done so, compared to 25 percent of those with a high school education or less.

Other forms of engagement are less common. Just under two in five (18 percent) say they have joined an online group about an issue with people that they do not know. The two groups most likely to be in an online group are respondents living with a disability (31 percent) and 2SLGBTQ+ (33 percent) respondents. There is a sharp divide in this kind of participation between those over and under the age of 60. Under the age of 60, about one in five Canadian residents say they have joined an online group — consistent across age cohorts. However, among those 60 and older only 11 percent have done so.

Another 13 percent have participated in a government or political consultation online — with men (18 percent) being more than twice as likely as women (eight percent) to say they have done so. Participation in government consultations is closely tied to education — among those with a university education, 20 percent say they have done so, while only seven percent of those with a high school education or less have.

Finally, 13 percent of Canadian residents say they have paid for a digital news subscription. The federal government offers a Digital News Subscription Tax Credit and according to information from the Canadian Revenue Agency, just over 300,000 Canadians filed for the credit in 2020.5 This is similar to the 13 percent who reported a digital news subscription in 2024, although the tax credit is only available for paid subscriptions to qualified Canadian journalism organizations. Unsurprisingly, paid digital news subscriptions are most common among households earning the most: 21 percent of those with a household income over $100,000 have paid for a digital news subscription.

Trust in platforms and news

Trust in Canadian news organizations to act in the best interest of the public has largely stabilized after falling slightly in 2022. We asked participants how much trust they had in a number of different companies to act in the public interest, including major news organizations, social media platforms and digital service providers, alongside other major Canadian companies for additional context. The four most trusted companies tested to act in the public interest were CBC, Canadian Tire, CTV, and Global News, all had more than 40 percent of respondents say they trust them at least a 7 out of 9. Looking specifically at CBC / Radio-Canada, trust has been steady since 2022 with 48 percent saying they trust the organization to act in the public interest, and CBC is now the most highly trusted organization tested.

Figure 10 - Trust in organizations to act in the best interest of the public

Caption: “On a scale of 1-9, where 1 means you have no trust at all and 9 means you have a high degree of trust, how do you feel about each of the following companies when it comes to trusting them to act in the best interest of the public:”

Radio-Canada is specifically well trusted in Quebec, where 64 percent of respondents have a high level of trust in the organization. However, trust in CBC in Alberta is particularly low — only 34 percent have a high degree of trust in the organization. Across the board, Alberta tends to have lower levels of trust in news organizations. Only 36 percent highly trust Global News, 34 percent highly trust CTV, and only 21 percent highly trust The Globe and Mail.

For nearly every company tested, those on the right of the political spectrum are more likely than those on the left to trust that they will act in the public interest, reflecting general differences in support for the free market across the political spectrum. In general, the differences are smaller for news organizations but the only company that is more trusted by the left (57 percent) than the right (41 percent) is the CBC. This likely reflects the nature of the CBC as a publicly-funded entity and recent calls by some on the political right to see funding for the CBC decreased or eliminated.

Trust for big tech companies is split — while some are largely trusted, others are not. Google, Microsoft and Apple are all towards the top of the list of big tech companies.

However, social media platforms are much less trusted — Meta, Twitter/X, and TikTok are among the least trusted companies, with a majority of respondents having low (between 1 and 3) trust in them to act in the public interest. These platforms exist in a group of their own at the bottom, with the only other company joining them being the creator of ChatGPT, OpenAI, which, while not well trusted, is also not yet well known. Nearly one-third of respondents still don’t know if they trust OpenAI to act in the interest of the public.

Figure 11 - Trust in social media platforms in Canada over time

Caption: “On a scale of 1-9, where 1 means you have no trust at all and 9 means you have a high degree of trust, how do you feel about each of the following companies when it comes to trusting them to act in the best interest of the public:”

For most companies, trust has been very stable since 2022. The three exceptions are Twitter/X, TikTok and Loblaws, all of which have received significant negative media attention over the past year. For Twitter/X, there has been no change in the share who have a high degree of trust (11 percent in both 2024 and 2022); however, the low trust group has grown from 40 percent in 2022 to 48 percent now. For TikTok, the share with low trust has grown from 50 percent in 2022 to 55 percent. For Loblaws, the change has been more dramatic. In 2022, 34 percent had a high degree of trust in the company. That has since declined to only 25 percent while those with low trust have nearly doubled from 13 percent in 2022 to 25 percent in 2024.

Digital service providers

When considering whether people living in Canada trust that providers of digital services will offer secure and responsible platforms, residents have the highest degree of trust in health-care providers with a majority having a high level of trust (at least a 7 on a 9-point scale). Canadian banks are nearly as well trusted: 45 percent say they have a high level of trust in digital services from banks.

Figure 12 - Trust in secure and responsible digital services from each provide

Caption: "You are likely interacting with a number of digital services in your daily life. We want you to consider which sectors you most trust to offer secure and responsible digital services. This means products and services that are modern and reliable, ensure your informed consent, respect your privacy, protect your information from cyber breaches, and are aligned with the public interest.

On a scale of 1-9, where 1 means you have no trust at all and 9 means you have a high degree of trust, how do you feel about each of the following when it comes to trusting them to offer secure and responsible digital services:”

Governments fall squarely in the centre — municipal governments are most trusted at 37 percent, while provincial and federal governments both have 33 percent of people living in Canada saying they trust them to provide digital services securely and responsibly.

The least trusted service providers are cryptocurrency exchanges — more than half have a low level of trust in cryptocurrency exchanges including 29 percent who reported having no trust at all in them. There are significant age differences in trust in crypto exchanges: only 37 percent of those under 30 report having no trust in crypto exchanges compared to 54 percent of those 45 to 59 and 65 percent of those aged 60+. On the flip side, 13 percent of those under 30 report having a high degree of trust in cryptocurrency exchanges.

For all of these service providers, trust has been down since 2022, although in most cases the decline has been small. The largest declines are for the federal government (high trust has declined from 38 to 33 percent, while low trust has grown from 21 percent to 26 percent) and for health-care providers (high trust has declined from 55 percent to 51 percent, although low trust has only grown from 8 percent to 10 percent).

Information sources on digital literacy

To better understand Canadians’ engagement with online harms and misinformation, it is essential to know which sources Canadians can turn to and trust. For policymakers, strengthening media literacy and better enabling access to trusted information are critical components to mitigate disinformation and online harm. Using a pre-selected set of sources, we asked respondents how much they would trust each if they wanted to learn more about misinformation and digital literacy.

Figure 13 - Trust in different sources for learning about digital literacy and misinformation

Caption: “How much would you trust each of the following sources if you wanted to learn more about misinformation and digital literacy?”

Our survey shows that the majority of Canadian residents trust public libraries (89 percent of overall support), followed by friends and family (83 percent), and their child’s school for those with children under 18 (81 percent, n=647). Though overall support exceeded 60 percent for both, strong trust for news media and the federal government was relatively weak (11 percent and 10 percent). Though our results indicate higher levels of trust than other studies show, lack of strong trust in news media matches a reported long-term decline in Canada.6

Platform Governance

Attribution of fault

Consistent with our findings from previous years, Canadian residents generally support government intervention in the spread of online harms, such as hate speech, harassment and false information. Though respondents blame online platform users themselves as most responsible for generating online harm, they believe that platforms are obligated to mitigate harm.

Figure 26 - Attribution of responsibility for rise in harmful online content in Canada

Caption: “There are concerns about a rise in harmful content such as hate speech, harassment and false information on large online platforms, like YouTube, Facebook or Instagram. Who do you think is most responsible for contributing to a rise in harmful online content, whether through action or inaction? And who do you think should be most responsible for fixing a rise in harmful online content?”

When asked about the responsibility of harmful online content, most respondents place the blame on the users of online platforms for causing online harm (46 percent), but say it is the platforms' responsibility to fix it (49 percent). Very few placed principal responsibility on government or political leaders. This is consistent with our findings from 2022; the percentage of respondents who believed platform users were to blame for harmful content went down by just two percent, as did the percentage of respondents who believed platforms were responsible for fixing it. Respondents who believed the government was causing online harm went up by one percent compared to last year, and those who believed the onus of fixing the problem lay with the government increased by two percent as compared to 2022.

Attitudes about government intervention

We again asked survey participants to consider three pairs of statements and choose the one that best described their perspectives on government intervention in regulating online harms. We found that overall for each question, approximately two out of three Canadians were in favour of government intervention.

Figure 27 - Attitudes towards online platform regulation in Canada

Caption: “For each of the following pairs of statements, please indicate which of the following best describes your perspective.”

Overall, there have been no significant changes in attitudes towards intervention, either for or against regulation since 2021. On whether or not the government should have a role in intervening in online platforms, 68 percent of respondents agreed, while 32 percent did not believe governments should play a role in regulating platforms. This was only a one percent change compared to last year’s results, in favour of government intervention. The third question asked respondents if they believed that the spread of disinformation is a threat to Canadian democracy and needs to be addressed by the government, with two out of three respondents agreeing. This has been stable since 2022, when 66 percent agreed.

We can combine the results of these three questions to see how consistent Canadians are in their beliefs about regulating online speech. Doing so, we find that across the three trade-offs, 46 percent of respondents consistently picked the pro-regulation options, indicating that they always preferred action over inaction. Only 15 percent of respondents were consistently anti-regulation, and the remaining 39 percent of respondents were inconsistent with their answers between regulation and lack thereof.

Support for action on online harms

Platform regulation

Figure 28 - Support for specific requirements for online platforms

Caption: “There have been a number of actions proposed to address harmful content on large online platforms, like YouTube, Facebook or Instagram. For each of the following, would you say you strongly support, somewhat support, are neutral, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose: Require platforms to…”

Canadians remained overwhelmingly in support of policy actions to address harmful content. When introduced to different actions that could be required to mitigate online harms, Canadians’ support for every action was at least 80 percent. Most respondents supported the requirement for platforms to remove child sexual material and report it to the police (92 percent), with support for the removal of non-consensual intimate images (88 percent) and accounts impersonating others (87 percent) following.

Opposition did not exceed five percent for any of the options, and was highest at five percent for the option to require platforms to quickly remove hate speech that deliberately promotes hatred against identifiable groups. Of the respondents who were against it, half were in the “high belief in misinformation” group based on our misinformation index. Overall, believers of misinformation were almost always more likely to oppose regulation than their counterparts.

Most notable changes compared to 2022 results include an increase for strong support for removing bot accounts (+4, now 68 percent), strong support for requiring platforms to develop specific measures for child users (+4, now 68 percent), and strong support for platforms labeling deepfakes (+4, now 64 percent), the latter of which may reflect reactions to a growing untrustworthy information landscape. Increase for these responses was largely driven by those in the “somewhat support” camp.

Figure 29 - Support for specific requirements for online platforms over time

Caption: “There have been a number of actions proposed to address harmful content on large online platforms, like YouTube, Facebook or Instagram. For each of the following, would you say you strongly support, somewhat support, are neutral, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose: Require platforms to…”. *Prior to 2022, question text read “Requiring that automated content or bot accounts be banned”

Online Harms Act

With the tabling of Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, we asked survey respondents two questions to gauge their support for their preferred recourse mechanisms on the decisions of online platforms to remove content, and also to evaluate general sentiments about the proposed Online Harms Act itself.

Among three options for recourse mechanisms that are laid out in the new bill, most respondents (51 percent) supported the creation of a Digital Safety Commissioner that can audit and order platforms to remove illegal content, followed by respondents (44 percent) who believed online platforms should be required to have their own appeals mechanisms. This is followed by 37 percent of respondents who supported the creation of an independent ombudsperson to help users navigate platform appeals. Only three percent supported other options, seven percent said none of the above, and 16 percent were unsure. Most respondents who supported none of the above had a high degree of belief in misinformation.

Figure 30 - Awareness of Canada’s proposed Online Harms Act

Caption: “The Trudeau government has tabled the Online Harms Act to provide recourse to Canadians regarding decisions of large online platforms to remove illegal content, such as hate speech or promotion of violence. Before this survey, how familiar were you with the Online Harms Act?”

Familiarity with the Online Harms Act remains quite low. The majority of respondents were not familiar with the bill, with only nine percent clearly familiar. Among those who were at least vaguely familiar with the bill, there was 61 percent overall support of the proposed Online Harms Act, 20 percent who opposed, and 12 percent who were neutral. Women were generally more supportive of the act (70 percent) than men (55 percent), and the 60+ age group had the most support for the act at 70 percent. Our results were consistent with a report from Leger on Canadian’s general support for the Online Harms Act, where nearly 70 percent of respondents said they support the government’s plan to regulate online content.7

Figure 31 - Support for Canada’s proposed Online Harms Act

Caption: “From what you’ve heard, do you support or oppose the Online Harms Act?”

TikTok ban

Using the example of the recent government ban on the use of TikTok on the devices of public servants due to concerns about the potential risk of surveillance or interference from the Chinese government, we asked respondents if they were in support of a broader TikTok ban. Overall, 33 percent of respondents believed that TikTok should be banned completely in Canada, with 24 percent believing that it should only be banned for minors. Looking at the age distribution of responses, we found that 40 percent of those in the 16 to 29 age group believed TikTok should not be banned, while only 15 percent of those aged 60+ believed the same. A Leger report also found that young people opposed the TikTok ban more than older people.8

Figure 32 - Support for banning TikTok in Canada

Caption: “TikTok was banned on government devices in Canada following concerns about the potential risk of surveillance or interference from the Chinese government, given TikTok’s parent company is based in China. Which of the following best describes your perspective”