Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy

Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University · Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Organizational update (2026): The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy and the Media Ecosystem Observatory have merged into a single unified Centre under a new Executive Director, Anna Jahn, who also holds an Associate Professor of Research position at the Max Bell School. The mediatechdemocracy.com website reflects the merged organization.

Overview

The Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy is an interdisciplinary research centre at McGill University's Max Bell School of Public Policy, dedicated to understanding and responding to the democratic harms of the evolving information ecosystem and emerging digital technologies. It was founded in 2020 by Taylor Owen — the Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications and an Associate Professor at the Max Bell School — as McGill's focal point for critical research and public debate about the role of media and technology in shaping democracy and public life. Owen, whose prior roles included Research Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia, brought to the Centre's founding a specific intellectual orientation: not merely describing the effects of digital platforms on democratic life, but identifying levers for governance change and translating academic research into actionable policy.

The Centre operates across three research streams — technology governance, information ecosystems, and media and journalism — and is committed to what its founding documents describe as "public-facing work": translating cutting-edge research for broad public audiences and policy makers through events, podcasts, workshops, and policy briefs, rather than producing scholarship that circulates only within academic journals. In early 2026, the Centre merged with the Media Ecosystem Observatory — a related research unit that had been operating alongside it — under a new unified leadership structure. Anna Jahn joined as Executive Director of the merged Centre, also holding an Associate Professor of Research position at the Max Bell School.

Founding Director: Taylor Owen

Taylor Owen is the Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications and Associate Professor at McGill's Max Bell School of Public Policy. His doctorate is from the University of Oxford; he has been a Trudeau Scholar, a Banting Scholar, an Action Canada Fellow, and received the 2016 Public Policy Forum Emerging Leader Award. Before founding the Centre he served as Research Director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University and as an assistant professor of digital media and global affairs at the University of British Columbia. He is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and a Fellow at the Public Policy Forum, and sits on the Governing Council of Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). He hosts the Big Tech podcast, which brings his platform governance research to a general audience.

In the fall of 2025, the Minister of AI and Digital Inclusion, Evan Solomon, appointed Owen to Canada's National AI Task Force — a government body tasked with developing recommendations on AI policy in a compressed one-month timeline. Owen's focus within the task force was governance, safety, and trust; his full memo was subsequently published by the Centre. The appointment reflects the degree to which Owen and the Centre have become embedded in Canadian technology governance conversations — moving between academic research, public commentary, and formal government advisory roles in ways that embody the Centre's stated commitment to research that reaches policy makers.

Research Streams and Projects

The Centre organizes its work across three research streams. Technology governance encompasses platform accountability, AI regulation, surveillance technology, facial recognition policy, and children and technology — examining how legal and regulatory frameworks can be designed to maximize the benefits of emerging technologies while minimizing their systemic democratic harms. Information ecosystems addresses misinformation, disinformation, algorithmic content amplification, and the behavioral effects of information disorder on citizens and democratic institutions. Media and journalism examines the structural conditions of quality journalism, including public interest media models, journalistic support mechanisms, and the evolving economics of news.

Information Ecosystems

Media Ecosystem Observatory

Combines large-scale media monitoring with survey research to study the behavioral impact of misinformation and disinformation on citizens' attitudes and the overall strength of democracy. Now integrated into the merged Centre. Owen has emphasized that false information only matters if it is actually influencing people — the Observatory provides the empirical evidence base for that judgment.

Technology Governance

Canadian Commission on Democratic Expression

A four-year collaboration with the Public Policy Forum exploring digital hate speech policy in Canada. Chaired by former Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. Explores how Canada should approach the governance of online expression, balancing free speech, democratic health, and protection from harmful content.

Technology Governance

Tech-Informed Policy

A collaboration with Derek Ruths of McGill's Computer Science department developing policy briefs aimed at demystifying new technology for policy makers — translating technical complexity into actionable governance language for legislators and regulators who need to make decisions about systems they may not fully understand.

AI and Democracy

AI and Democracy Essay Series

A seven-part essay series by world-leading experts in deliberative democracy, civic technology, and AI governance, exploring how citizen assemblies and civic tech can strengthen AI governance. Published following a March 2025 workshop at Simon Fraser University's Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, supported by CIFAR and Mila.

Media and Journalism

Public Service Media Study

A two-year study drawing on best practices in public service media from within Canada and 17 other countries — examining the models, funding structures, and governance frameworks that sustain quality public interest journalism in an era of digital disruption and platform dependency.

Youth and Technology

Left To Their Own Devices (podcast)

A 10-part investigative podcast hosted by Centre Youth Fellow Ava Smithing, produced in partnership with the Toronto Star and Paradigms, exploring how social media algorithms fuel obsessive use and addiction and push children toward self-harm, dieting content, and violent content at younger ages. Finalist for a Peabody Award — one of the highest international honors in journalism.

Canadian and International Collaborations

The Centre operates as a hub for an extended network of collaborators across Canadian and international institutions. Its collaboration with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) has produced research on international platform governance frameworks and digital sovereignty. The Digital Democracy Project, co-led by Owen before the Centre's formal launch, studied the Canadian media ecosystem during the 2019 federal election. The Centre has collaborated with the Public Policy Forum on the Canadian Commission on Democratic Expression, with Simon Fraser University's Wosk Centre for Dialogue on AI governance deliberative processes, and with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) and Mila (the Quebec AI institute) on AI and democracy research.

The Centre's research network also includes Emily Laidlaw (Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity Law, University of Calgary), Heidi Tworek (Canada Research Chair, UBC, director of the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions), Vivek Krishnamurthy (University of Colorado Law School, Samuelson-Glushko Technology Law and Policy Clinic), and Amarnath Amarasingam (Queen's University, expert in radicalization and online extremism) — a roster that reflects the Centre's commitment to interdisciplinary work spanning law, history, political science, computer science, and communications.

Access and Engagement

The Centre's research publications, event recordings, and policy briefs are freely accessible at mediatechdemocracy.com. Taylor Owen's Big Tech podcast, which translates the Centre's research and platform governance scholarship for a general audience, is available through all standard podcast platforms. The AI and Democracy essay series is at mediatechdemocracy.com/ai-and-democracy. For media inquiries and collaboration proposals, the senior communications contact is Isabelle Corriveau, Senior Manager, Public Outreach and Communications, at isabelle.corriveau2@mcgill.ca. The Centre is housed within the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, Montreal.