OTTAWA — The Government of Canada is taking a leadership role in a new initiative to counter online election interference, as part of the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace. The announcement was made today by Dominic LeBlanc, president of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada, whose portfolio also includes federal responsibility for democratic institutions.
Along with Microsoft and the Alliance for Securing Democracy, the Government of Canada is co-leading activities to counter election interference and to build international capacity in this area over the coming months, says the news release.
The Paris Call is an international declaration created in November 2018, which calls for states, the private sector and civil society to work together to promote security in cyberspace. Supported by more than 550 entities internationally, including more than 95 governments, the Paris Call is the largest-ever multi-stakeholder cybersecurity agreement.
Participants in the Paris Call have committed to working together to adopt best practices on countering disinformation online and cybersecurity threats and to implementing its principles online.
The initiative announced today is focused on one of the Paris Call’s nine fundamental principles, Principle 3 (Defend Electoral Processes), which aims to “strengthen our capacity to prevent malign interference by foreign actors aimed at undermining electoral processes through malicious cyber activities,” says the news release.
“Canada’s leadership in the Paris Call will help build global expertise and understanding about the best way to combat online disinformation and malicious cyber activities in the context of election interference. We look forward to working with Microsoft and the Alliance for Securing Democracy on this important and timely initiative, and to helping strengthen the cybersecurity of Canadians as well as nations across the world,” said LeBlanc, in the release.
