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Victoria, B.C. – This week, people in Victoria might be surprised to see a nine-foot-tall interactive cellphone standing at the University of Victoria or the Royal BC Museum. They might be taken aback as they notice the larger-than-life screen displaying images and articles that look a lot like what they see in their social media feeds. And when they stop for a moment for a closer look, they’ll see an invitation to answer a question they may have thought about before: “Are these posts real?”  

This activation is part of the B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner’s latest campaign, Can You STOP It?, which gamifies finding and stopping the spread of mis- and disinformation online. Members of the public are invited to visit the cellphone this Tuesday, Dec. 2 through Thursday, Dec. 4 and take a quiz to see if they can identify misinformation. After testing their skills, participants will be shown the STOP tool, a memorable acronym that brings together some of the most effective techniques to identify misinformation:  

  • Share only content they’re sure is truthful  
  • Track down the truth 
  • Outsmart the outrage the content may be trying to provoke 
  • Poke at the point of view of the creator to consider what they’re trying to achieve 

The quiz can be retaken with randomized questions either in-person or online. The online version of the Can You STOP It? quiz—available at bchumanrights.ca/stop—is available in multiple languages and meets key web accessibility standards. 

“Misinformation is widespread and incredibly harmful—and is a key driver in the rise of hate both on and offline,” said Commissioner Kasari Govender. “When people have the tools to distinguish between fact and fiction, misinformation loses its power—and so do the stereotypes and hateful sentiments that feed off of it.” 

Studies show it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify misinformation. According to a 2023 Statistics Canada poll, 59 per cent of Canadians said they were very or extremely concerned about misinformation online and 43 per cent said it was getting harder to identify misinformation compared with three years earlier. Some examples of mis- and disinformation the Commissioner has studied include the spread of racist conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic and misinformation that led to harassment campaigns against educators and LBGTQ2SAI+ community members.  

The Can You STOP It? campaign will be at: 

  • University of Victoria, Student Union Building (3800 Finnerty Road) on Tuesday, Dec. 2 from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. 
  • Royal BC Museum, Clifford Carl Hall (675 Belleville Street) on Wednesday, Dec. 3 and Thursday, Dec. 4, from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. 

Victoria will be the final stop in the inaugural Can You STOP It campaign with additional locations to be announced in the coming months. The campaign previously stopped in Vancouver, Kelowna, Smithers and Prince Rupert.  

More information about the campaign, resources and the online version of the Can You STOP It? quiz is available online at bchumanrights.ca/stop. 

Resources

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This news release is also available as a PDF (215KB).

Media contact

To request an interview with Commissioner Kasari Govender, please contact [email protected].

Media kit 

Visit our media kit for images of Commissioner Kasari Govender, pronunciation guidance, bios and more.  

About BCOHRC 

BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner exists to address the root causes of inequality, discrimination and injustice in B.C. by shifting laws, policies, practices and cultures. We do this work through education, research, advocacy, inquiry and monitoring. Learn more at: bchumanrights.ca  

About the Commissioner 

Kasari Govender began her work as B.C.’s first independent human rights commissioner in September 2019.  As an independent officer of the Legislature, Commissioner Govender is uniquely positioned to ensure human rights in B.C. are protected, respected and advanced on a systemic level. In her first five-year term, her work through BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner included a public inquiry into experiences of hate in the pandemic, a report on systemic discrimination in policing, community embedded research about a range of human rights issues experienced by British Columbians, public awareness campaigns about ableism and racism and guidance to government that, among other things, informed the creation of both the Anti-Racism Data Act and the Anti-Racism Act. Commissioner Govender was reappointed for a second term beginning in September 2024. 

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