Project COMET

Increasing resilience to manipulative & dangerous speech

Countering Online Misinformation and Establishing Trust - codename COMET - is a project that seeks to understand and address vulnerability to violent extremism in Canada. 

COMET is funded by Public Safety Canada’s Community Resilience Fund, which supports organizations working to improve Canada's capacity to prevent and counter violent extremism. 

Cause

Resilience-building

Locations

Canada

Status

In-Progress

Ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) is on the rise in Canada and its effects are being experienced throughout Canadian society

Our project adopts an upstream approach that focuses on communities that are affected by extreme content online.

The goals of Project COMET are to:

  • Increase Canadians’ resilience to manipulative information tactics
  • Engage with communities in Canada who feel disconnected from today’s society
  • Expand our understanding of social and political grievances
  • Promote non-violent political participation as a means to address grievances

Eight in ten Canadians agree that misinformation contributes to extreme political beliefs

Our research has found that individuals who express higher acceptance of political violence are also likely to be more vulnerable to misinformation narratives and tactics. Project COMET aims to increase Canadian netizen’s resilience to manipulative tactics and rhetoric commonly used by IMVE actors.

This isn’t about telling people what to think. Misinformation is rampant online, and it’s constantly evolving. Through COMET, we want to increase Canadians’ awareness of and resilience to manipulative tactics online, so that they are well equipped to navigate the information space and form their own opinions on issues that matter to them.

Learning through gameplay

We use interactivity and elements of gamification to create non-judgemental spaces that promote depth of engagement

Our interventions aim to equip Canadians with the tools they need to navigate the perils of the digital public square. findthemanipulation.com approaches media literacy as a game – can you identify the patterns of manipulation?

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