OTTAWA–New data shows Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s politically jaw-dropping blackface scandal quickly fell off the Canadian public’s radar.

Social media traffic analyzed by the Digital Democracy Project shows revelations Trudeau had worn blackface makeup exploded onto the internet when Time magazine broke the story on Sept. 18, but quickly faded from public discussion.

“The rapid decay of such an explosive story is worth noting,” a report detailing the analysis read.

“By one week after the story broke, there was very little general Twitter interest in the story. The pattern on Facebook is similar … although the volume of public posts is much smaller.”

On Sept. 18, Trudeau was forced to hold a late evening press conference to address photos published by Time showing him in blackface and an Aladdin costume at an Arabian Nights-themed party from 2001. Trudeau confirmed he had dressed up in blackface on another occasion, and Global News reported a third incident the following morning.

The Digital Democracy Project, a joint initiative by non-partisan Public Policy Forum and researchers at McGill University, tracked the scandal’s movement through Facebook and Twitter in the days that followed.

The analysis shows the discussion around the story largely died down within three days among the general public, journalists who cover politics, as well as candidates in the upcoming federal election.

“Non-Liberal candidates may have had stronger incentives to keep the story alive. However, like journalists and the general public, their tweets on the controversy also dwindled a few days after the story broke,” the report stated.

The Digital Democracy Project was conceived, at least in part, against the backdrop of the possibility of malicious activity — domestic or foreign — aiming to interfere with the federal election. But researchers found the discussion around the story “lacks evidence of disproportionate inauthentic behaviour.”

But a separate report from the Technology and Social Change Research Project at Harvard warned that the scandal has “created an information environment ripe for exploitation by partisans and other bad actors seeking to spread confusion, division and hate.”

“While the Trudeau black and brownface photos are authentic, journalists should be prepared for an onslaught of doctored pics around this news story and others like it, making it harder and harder to tell a legitimate news story from a partisan fake,” the researchers wrote.

“The Trudeau controversy, and emerging disinformation, trolling and messaging around it, may (also) already be having a chilling effect on discussion and engagement, particularly among minorities.”

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