Photo: Samantha Holomay

A city councillor in Nelson is speaking out after an accusation of being involved with the World Economic Forum (WEF), a mistruth that he said spread due to misinformation online.

“Well, it started back in 2018, 2019,” said Coun. Rik Logtenberg. "I started the Climate Caucus which somehow got identified as a part of WEF agenda,”

Logtenberg said that some of the rhetoric around the narrative was that he was a part of a non-governmental, international think-tank.

He said that the accusation has reached a tipping point which incentivized him to post on a local online community page. Logtenberg said he received mostly positive responses.

“Before, our general approach was just to ignore it, don't feed the trolls, don't engage," he said. "But now, what I'm seeing is that if we don't engage, then the messages that dominate will be those with misinformation.”

According to a 2023 Statistics Canada study, over two in five Canadians (43 per cent) reported that it was becoming more difficult to distinguish between true and false news or information, compared with three years prior.

Logtenberg said that, although he encourages people to have a healthy skepticism, in some cases that skepticism can evolve into a broader mistrust.

“One that's grounded in an ideology or a worldview," he said.

Logtenberg added that the harsh and often misplaced anger has caused some individuals who were interested in running for public office to refrain from participating at all.

"I've been called all sorts of crazy things. Most local governments, certainly provincial and federal politicians, experience this much more than I do."

He added that these circumstances eliminate so many good people from running for public office because they don't want to be subject to harassment or misinformation.

"Many good people who would make great councillors or elected representatives of some kind or another will not even consider it because of that,” he said.

The most pertinent concern regarding misinformation is that it impedes many individuals from making informed decisions about finances, health and politics.

Chief librarian at the Nelson Municipal Library, Tracy Therrien, noted that one way to ensure you are receiving verified information online is to utilize a variety of sources.

“It's so important for us to get off social media and do some research," she said. "You can do that online and you can come to the library and use the databases that any library in the province has access to that is research-based and peer-reviewed, just to get a fuller breadth of the issue.”

Therrien added that it’s important not to stay silent, and to ask questions about the information you consume.

“When you have a conversation, talk to friends that have different opinions...Then go to another friend. That first-time information is so important, rather than just relying on stuff that's being said to you.”

Statistics Canada said that increasing age was associated with a lower probability of fact-checking information. However, higher education was associated with a higher likelihood of engaging in both behaviours.

Therrien also mentioned the organization MediaSmarts as a resource for parents and children to learn about digital media literacy.

“Media Smart is focused on information for parents and for kids, like for supporting their kids. If any parent is concerned about it, it would be a good resource for them," said Therrien. "They have lots of information there on digital media, literacy, television, movies, video games and music, because it does come back at all of us from all sorts of different angles."