Canada has reported the detection of a disinformation campaign, believed to be associated with China, that targeted numerous Canadian politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This “spamouflage” campaign aimed to discredit Canadian Members of Parliament (MPs) and silence criticism of Beijing. Global Affairs Canada’s Rapid Response Mechanism uncovered the campaign, which featured a bot network leaving thousands of comments in both English and French on the social media accounts of Canadian politicians.
These comments accused Canadian politicians of criminal and ethical breaches based on allegations by a critic of the Chinese Communist Party in Canada. The campaign also included the use of likely “deep fake” videos created through artificial intelligence. These accusations are the latest in a series of claims of Beijing’s interference in Canadian affairs.
“Spamouflage” campaigns typically involve posting propaganda messages across multiple social media platforms using a network of new or hijacked accounts. These same accounts were also involved in spreading disinformation about wildfires in Hawaii, falsely attributing them to a secret US military “weather weapon.”