December 15, 2014 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today visited Facebook headquarters and met with tech leaders in Silicon Valley to discuss how Canada can leverage digital tools in advancing its foreign policy.
“Canada has expanded its digital footprint enormously over the last year, and we are continuing to look for ideas on how to develop it further,” said Baird. “Our diplomats are increasingly using social media to promote Canadian values and interests abroad.”
In meetings at Facebook, including one with Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Global Communications, Marketing and Public Policy, Baird discussed how extremism and terrorism can be tackled on social media and expressed concerns over the actions of some governments to censor and control activity on the Internet.
Baird also met with Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and chairman of Palantir Technologies and one of the most successful and influential entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley.
“Canada believes in the need to promote a free, open and secure Internet,” Baird said, “both as a means to support the expression of human rights and as an enabler of innovation and growth.”
While in the region, Baird also met with Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. national security adviser and secretary of state, at Stanford University. They discussed current foreign policy challenges, including Russia and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, as well as furthering energy and security cooperation between Canada and the United States.
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