The Role of Misinformation in the 2022 Quebec Election: Mid-Election Analysis

Executive Summary

The Quebec Electoral Misinformation Project analyzes the role of misinformation in the 2022 Quebec provincial election through automated and human monitoring of social media alongside a daily survey tracking the spread and effects of misinformation on Quebecers' attitudes and behaviours. This mid-election analysis summarizes observations since the start of the campaign, finding that misinformation discussions on social media concentrate on three main topics: perceptions of polls and media coverage as biased, misinformation related to the electoral process, and misinformation tied to COVID-19 and an anticipated authoritarian shift should the Coalition Avenir Québec be re-elected.

Quantitative analysis of social media data shows that some misinformation content appeared among the most retweeted tweets about Quebec politics during the campaign, though human monitoring suggests it remained concentrated among small online communities and rarely reached the wider public. Survey data indicate that Quebecers perceive misinformation as a serious issue in the election but remain confident it will be administered fairly. About one-quarter of respondents consider themselves to have been exposed to misinformation connected to the election, nearly half find it difficult to distinguish factual information from misinformation, and more than 40% are unsure whether they had been exposed to misinformation during the campaign.