Quebec government tables bill to combat election disinformation and interference

The Quebec government has introduced a bill to preserve the integrity of the electoral process by tackling deliberate disinformation and election interference.

The bill tabled today by the province's minister for democratic institutions would make it an offence to knowingly spread false information to influence or disturb an election or compromise the public’s trust in the electoral process.

Jean-François Roberge says it would also be an offence to falsely represent the chief electoral officer or a candidate in order to mislead the public.

Roberge says examples of false representations include AI-generated deepfakes that impersonate candidates, or lies about a candidate's resume or qualifications to influence a vote.

He told reporters that the law would apply only to people who act deliberately to misinform voters, and not to those who are exercising their rights to free speech by expressing political opinions.

Fines would range from $1,000 to $10,000 for a first offence for an individual, and between $5,000 and $30,000 for a company or organization. Those amounts would rise for repeat offenders.