Misinformation, disinformation, and lies are nothing new for Canadians entering an election campaign, but amid the trade war, the issue of foreign interference online has become even more fraught.
A political science professor at the University of Windsor thinks voters should prepare for it to intensify this time around.
As the professional news media in Canada continues to shrink, Lydia Miljan believes it'll largely be up to voters to figure out what's fact and what's not.
"It's a lot of work," said Miljan. "Given the way social media algorithms work, if you like a certain perspective, you're going to be fed more of that perspective, which opens you up to nefarious actors, and that makes it more difficult for you as a consumer to fact check."
The trouble with bad online information is that it often contains a kernel of truth.
Miljan uses the example of a recent photo of Prime Minister Mark Carney at an event years ago in the United Kingdom, where Jeffrey Epstein accused co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell also attended.
"There are legitimate questions -- I can also see the potential for misinformation for people to take that kernel of truth and distort it," she said. "If something's speaking to you directly and you think, oh, that's exactly what I want to hear, it's always best to double-check."
Anyone can be fooled. Miljan admits even she's had to double-check the veracity of an item she's read online.
"People send me stuff and say, can you believe this? And then I go, no I can't and this is why," she said.