The 2018 Elections Modernization Act amended the federal Elections Act to include several disinformation measures aimed at protecting electoral integrity, with a focus on political advertisement transparency. Notably, platforms must publish a registry of political advertising messages when selling advertising space to political entities during an election (Canada Elections Act, s. 325.1[2]). The registry must include a copy of the messages, and must specify who authorized the publication thereof (s. 325.1[3]).
These requirements apply to online platforms publishing partisan advertising (in the 12 months before the first day of a pre-election period) or election advertising (in the 12 months before the first day of an election period) that are used or visited by a defined number of Internet users in Canada per month, the thresholds varying based on the language of the platform’s content (s. 325.1[1]).
Under the Elections Act, an online platform “includes an Internet site or Internet application whose owner or operator, in the course of their commercial activities, sells, directly or indirectly, advertising space on the site or application to persons or groups” (s. 319).