(OTTAWA) Canada’s Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is “closely following” what’s happening on Twitter, where the Norwegian Prime Minister’s and Foreign Minister’s accounts were recently hacked.

” Sorry ! ,” the social network’s new owner, Elon Musk, wrote on Wednesday morning in response to a tweet from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose account was hacked the previous day.

The ministry had been identified as a government organization of Nigeria.

“While we value our excellent bilateral relationship and our proximity to Nigeria in alphabetical order, we would greatly appreciate it if you could tell us Norway,” Twitter tech support said.

“PS That also applies to the prime minister [Jonas Gahr Støre] and the foreign minister [Anniken Huitfeld] ” concluded the ministry of the Scandinavian country.

The transformation of the social network, which the billionaire acquired in October, has also not gone unnoticed in Ottawa political circles, where Twitter has become an indispensable platform over the years.

This is the case in the office of Minister Pablo Rodriguez, it said on Wednesday.

“Given the changing nature of the situation regarding Twitter policy, we are closely monitoring the situation,” her publicist Laura Scaffidi wrote in an email in response to what happened to the Norwegian accounts.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office routed questions The press to the Treasury Board of Canada, Head of Government Communications. The department concerned did not reply.

For his part, Bloc member Martin Champoux believes that the Norwegian scenario “re-raises the question of security on digital platforms”, especially as “several governments and institutions use platforms like Twitter to communicate with the public”.

If the tangent that the social network, led by Elon Musk, is taking seems to worry Ottawa elected officials in the House of Commons, “we are not giving MPs any advice or direction regarding their use of Twitter,” said Amélie Crosson, spokesman of the presidency.

The Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party (NDP) did not comment on the case.

An insignificant network

Politicians can do without Twitter, however, because they can reach a larger audience on other platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, says Nellie Brière, a specialist in digital communication.

“If you want to reach the population, Twitter is not the best place. It’s not a must-have platform,” she argues.

“In 2022, each person uses platforms differently to get information, so a politician has no choice but to have a strategy with multiple accounts on multiple platforms,” the spokesperson and tech columnist continues.

Ottawa wants to muzzle Canadians, says Musk

Minister Rodriguez is currently testing two bills regulating web giants: C-11 on streaming platforms and C-18 that would oblige web giants to pay for journalistic content published on their platforms.

Both face opposition from the Conservative Party and are vilified in the right-wing media. A representative of one of these organizations, the True North CenterWith that, she challenged the big boss of Twitter to them on Wednesday.

Without naming the bills he was referring to, Andrew Lawton wrote that “Canada’s liberal government wants to regulate internet content and delegate enforcement of ‘hate speech’ bans to social media companies,” and that he hoped Elon Musk interferes.

His wish was granted early Thursday morning.

“It looks like an attempt to silence the voice of the Canadian people,” analyzed the entrepreneur.

To which Secretary Rodriguez’s office responded that freedom of expression was “fundamental,” that the platforms could do “much more,” and that the government intends to “work with them to make their platforms safer for our children and for all Canadians.” .

Bill C-18 passed the House of Commons on Wednesday. He is now assuming leadership of the Senate, where Bill C-11 has been deadlocked for several weeks.

Journalists and personalities were also hacked

The reports of some Canadian journalists, including Aaron Derfel (The newspaper), Catherine Gauthier (Radio Canada) and Hannah Thibedeau (CBC News) have been hacked on Twitter in the last few days.

animator Guy A. Lepage also tried it, donning the fake virtual clothes of a signed MacBook seller. “It’s really a shitty company,” he said in an interview with The press.