Canada is planning to host a gathering of G7 representatives next year to develop new programs and tools to stop the spread of misinformation.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino also extended the invitation to his counterparts this week at a meeting in Germany of G7 interior ministers.

Mendicino said participants have begun exploring ways they can work more closely to combat propaganda and other forms of false information online by improving digital literacy and providing citizens with means to find trustworthy information. He added in an interview: "The G7 is the leader of democracy, and it provides us with a forum where we can face these challenges together and create a safer, more inclusive, and more prosperous world."

Also, the G7 countries invented the rapid response mechanism at the group's 2018 summit in Charleroi, Quebec, as a way to enhance coordination to identify and respond to a range of evolving external threats to democracy.

The group, which includes a Canadian-based unit in Global Affairs, focused on confronting foreign state-sponsored misinformation.

The Canadian unit also uncovered what might be a propaganda operation by the Chinese Communist Party aimed at deterring Chinese-Canadian voters from voting for the Conservatives in the recent federal election. Mendicino said the rapid response mechanism proved effective following Russia's invasion of Ukraine when Moscow claimed it was "distorting" its neighbor, adding: "We used the rapid response mechanism to call that out and condemn that." "But the question now is, how can we continue to leverage that mechanism, that protocol within the G7?"

Mendicino said democracies also need to engage with social media companies and big tech to understand how information is best delivered and ensure "that they comply, as much as possible, with the terms and conditions of their user agreements," describing it as a long-term challenge.

In the same context, he pointed out that misinformation continues to spread online across various social media platforms at a challenging pace, posing a widespread threat to the economy, academic fields, democratic institutions, and the healthy exchange of ideas.

Additionally, Mendicino said holding a G7 forum on issues in Canada would be a way to attempt to "turn the tide and move forward on the misinformation curve."