The aim of the propaganda campaign was to discourage MPs from criticizing China’s authoritarian Chinese Communist Party, according to the department
Members of Parliament, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, were the target of a disinformation campaign, known as “Spamouflage,” in August and September that was carried about by the Chinese government, Global Affairs said Monday.
“These spam comments claimed that a critic of the Chinese Communist Party in Canada had accused the various MPs of criminal and ethical violations,” the department said. “The Spamouflage campaign also included the use of likely ‘deepfake’ videos, which are digitally modified by artificial intelligence, targeting the individual.”
The Spamouflage operation aimed at Canadian politicians was seeking to “discredit and denigrate the targeted MPs through seemingly organic posts, alleging impropriety, by posting waves of social media posts and videos that called into question the political and ethical standards of the MPs, using a popular Chinese-speaking figure in Canada,” the department said.
The department said it has been made clear to MPs, who were targeted by China, that “nothing observed in this activity represents a threat to their safety, or that of their family.” “This has been part of an ongoing pattern that we have seen from the Beijing regime to spread disinformation and it underscores the degree to which the Beijing poses a threat to our democracy,” Mr. Cooper said. “It underscores the need for action. It’s time for the government to take concrete measures to counter Beijing and the threat that it poses to our democracy.”
The department’s Rapid Response Mechanism detected a disinformation operation on WeChat that was directed against Mr. Chong while monitoring digital traffic for the June 19 by-elections.
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