When the Bush Creek East wildfire roared through the Central Okanagan in the summer of 2023, the blaze not only levelled communities and sent residents into evacuation centres — it exposed a fracture in how people were getting information. According to a master’s thesis by Vernon resident Blair Visscher, the removal of Canadian news from Meta platforms coincided with a rise in divisive and conspiratorial content at a time when accurate reporting was most needed.
Information gap as fire burned across weeks
The wildfire ignited on July 12, 2023, and grew into a prolonged emergency before being declared held in late September at about 45,600 hectares. Midway through that period, on Aug. 2, 2023, Meta began stripping news links from Facebook and Instagram in Canada. Visscher’s research suggests that removal of those news links opened a space on social media where low-quality information and conspiracy narratives could flourish.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Ignition of Bush Creek East wildfire | July 12, 2023 |
| Meta removes Canadian news from platforms | Aug. 2, 2023 |
| Fire classified as held | Late September 2023 |
| Approximate area burned | 45,600 hectares |
Visscher told a local paper she had expected the news ban to create “an information vacuum into which conspiracy narratives could really take off.” Working with her supervisor, environmental humanities professor Greg Garrard, she developed methods to track how such narratives grew and why they sometimes gained more traction than official sources.
"My hypothesis was that the Meta news ban really created an information vacuum into which conspiracy narratives could really take off," Visscher said.
Why the change matters for remote and northern communities
In the Arctic, where digital connectivity can be intermittent and local outlets are fewer, accurate reporting and clear official notices are especially important. As a Nunavut correspondent, rooted in Inuit knowledge and the realities of northern life, I know that timely, trustworthy information can be the difference between safety and harm during extreme weather or wildfire events.
When mainstream journalism is removed from major social platforms, two things tend to happen:
- Algorithms begin to surface more sensational or polarizing posts that keep users engaged.
- Local or authoritative updates can be drowned out by rumours, speculation and deliberate misinformation.
These dynamics are not hypothetical. Visscher documented examples from the Bush Creek East event where social feeds were populated with divisive commentary and unverified claims as official news links disappeared from view.
Balancing platform policy and public safety
The Online News Act was designed to ensure large digital platforms compensate news publishers for the value their services derive from hosting journalism. Meta’s response — removing news entirely in Canada — revealed an unintended consequence: an information environment poorer in reliable sources during crises.
Public safety officials, journalists and researchers have long warned that misinformation can hamper emergency response by confusing evacuation orders, undermining trust in authorities, and spreading false narratives about cause and consequence. Visscher’s thesis gives empirical support to those concerns by tracing the timing and character of information flows during an active emergency.
What readers and communities can do
While policy debates continue between governments and tech giants, there are practical steps community members can take to reduce the harms of misinformation during crises:
- Follow verified accounts of local emergency management and public safety agencies.
- Seek multiple sources for critical updates — not just social posts.
- Be cautious sharing unverified images or claims; check timestamps and origin where possible.
For regions with limited connectivity, community radio, text-alert systems, and local newspapers remain vital. The loss of Canadian news on large platforms underscored the continued importance of sustaining local journalism and diverse channels for emergency communication.
Visscher’s study is one piece of a larger conversation about how digital platforms, policy and public safety intersect. As more extreme weather and wildfire seasons become part of the new normal, ensuring people have access to accurate information will be essential — whether they live in the Okanagan, Iqaluit, or a hamlet on the tundra.
Leah Qammaniq
Nunavut correspondent, WE NEWS
