61% of Canadians Say Misinformation is More Likely to Spread Because of Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover

Toronto, ON, December 23, 2022 – The recent acquisition of Twitter by Tesla tycoon Elon Musk in late October reignited heated discussions on conglomerate ownership of social media and highlighted issues surrounding misinformation and censorship. When Musk introduced an $8 cost to Twitter users to add a blue check mark to indicate a verified account, questions surrounding the reliability of sources created more of a concern in the spread of information, who was spreading it, and how information was being monitored. According to a recent Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News, 61% of Canadians believe that with Musk’s Twitter acquisition, misinformation is more likely to spread, with the same proportion (62%) saying they are less likely to revert to Twitter as an information source.

Over half of Canadians disagree that Twitter won’t change much with Elon’s Musk’s takeover of the platform, with many arguing censorship and misinformation will become more of an issue

Canadians are uncertain on whether Musk’s takeover will bring substantial change to the social media platform. Almost half (47%) of Canadians expect Twitter to see little change with Musk’s $44 billion purchase of the social media platform, yet the same proportion (47%) say that Twitter will become more censored under Elon Musk’s takeover. Gen Z (59%) and Millennials (57%) nearly equally agree that censorship may become an issue under the tycoon’s buyout compared to Gen X (41%) and Boomers (39%).

In addition to many Canadians saying Twitter will become more censored, another 61% go on to say that misinformation is more likely to spread with Musk’s Twitter acquisition. The same proportion (62%) assert that they are less likely to use Twitter as a source of information since Elon Musk’s purchase of the social media platform, a position held more strongly among Canadian Boomers (71%) compared to Gen Z (52%), Millennials (60%) and Gen X (59%). However, it is important to note that only a third (32%) use Twitter in Canada, according to Statista. Another 66% claim that misinformation is bound to disseminate with the platform’s privatization.

While younger Canadians are more likely to worry that social media are becoming too controlling of free speech, three quarters (77%) say that people who spread misinformation on social media should be banned, regardless of a verified account or not. This is a position held more strongly among older Canadians: Boomers (86%) vs. Gen Z (71%), Millennials (69%) and Gen X (76%).

Half are more likely to trust information on social media from a verified account, yet few would pay for one

Given Elon Musk’s proposition to pay for a verified account for Twitter users, half (51%) of Canadians say they are more likely to trust information on social media from a verified account, a notion felt more strongly among 18-34-year-olds (57%) compared to Canadians over the age of 55 years (51%). Yet trust in information on social media from a user who purchased a verified account falls to 40%, highlighting that one cannot simply purchase their way to verification and be trusted as a result.

Even though Canadians say they would be more trusting of information from a verified account on social media, only 22% say they would actually purchase an account; Gen Z (42%) are more likely to purchase a verified account than Millennials (30%), Gen X (20%) and Boomers (10%).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between November 10^th to 16^th, 2022, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, the sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Senior Vice President, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
[email protected]

Lisa Byers
Account Manager, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
[email protected]

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