Efforts to connect northern communities to high-speed internet bring adverse affects: study

The federal government’s push to bring high-speed internet to every household in Canada is coming with adverse effects, according to recent research. The study, led by University of Alberta associate professor Rob McMahon, examined internet usage and outcomes in a remote fly-in community in the N.W.T. through two sets of household surveys. The first set of surveys was conducted when low earth orbit (LEO) satellite services first became widely available, and the second set was conducted approximately one year after widespread adoption of Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s Starlink. When McMahon and co. compared the two sets of surveys, they found respondents “had increasing awareness of online harms and increasing concerns about the negative implications of increased connectivity,” McMahon told The Wire Report in an interview. Often, McMahon said, the digital divide is mainly a focus of whether people are connected or not, as well as the affordability and reliability of the connection. But, according to McMahon, there are three levels to the digital divide, and the technical aspect is only the first. The second level, he said, concerns digital literacy and whether people have the skills to use internet access the way they want to. The third level is where the online harms element comes in, which McMahon described as the outcomes of use and how it translates into either benefits or adverse effects. The research report, published June 23, found there were benefits to the improved connectivity, but concerns about almost all online harms “have significantly increased.” Respondents in the second round were more concerned with cyberbullying, risks to youth, financial harms, online gambling, pornography. Concerns over mental health troubles related to internet use nearly doubled. Misinformation online was another notable concern for respondents. “hile access to information has broadened, the quality and credibility of digital content are now pressing issues, especially in communities that may lack media literacy training,” the report wrote. The study observed certain benefits often expected from increased internet availability, including significant upticks in self-reported political and social engagement. “This finding underscores the role of improved connectivity in fostering social inclusion, reducing isolation, and enhancing communication,” the report wrote. However, other anticipated benefits from improved connectivity did not have as much of an impact. Access to government services, telehealth, and educational usage all showed marginal or “non-statistically significant” increases. Further, when researchers asked participants directly if they were likely to access telehealth, most were not likely to do so. The number of people stating they accessed online education or healthcare in the second survey round noticeably dropped. Researchers also conducted interviews with several participants, where responses “suggested that some people are concerned that they may lose access to in-person healthcare/educational services due to a shift to online service delivery.” Despite the meager changes in access to services, the number of people with access to high-speed internet did significantly increase from one quarter in the first round to three quarters in the second round. However, users were more likely to use the new connectivity for entertainment purposes. Even if digital connectivity initiatives can be well-meaning, McMahon said they can also be subject to the Matthew effect, amplifying pre-existing social inequalities. “People who already have access to resources in offline spaces, that often gets amplified in online spaces,” he said. “Conversely, the people who have less of those resources may be increasingly marginalized when internet becomes available.” McMahon said one of the main policy conclusions of the research is that it's not enough to connect communities to internet, but rather there has to be special attention paid to the third-level divide outcomes. He said government policy approaches typically focus on the technical aspects of connecting communities, as well as certain government programs that help with basic digital literacy, or the second-level divide. “When we talk about digital literacy, it’s not just about how do you use a computer? How do you send an email? How do you navigate a search engine?,” McMahon said. “But really, how do you use this connectivity in ways that are beneficial to you and your community?” mcollins@thewirereport.ca

Efforts to connect northern communities to high-speed internet bring adverse affects: study

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By Maria Collins
|August 10, 2026

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Efforts to connect northern communities to high-speed internet bring adverse affects: study

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