Canadian security officials have identified a Chinese government-linked information operation on WeChat aimed at influencing Chinese communities in Canada regarding Prime Minister Mark Carney, authorities said on Monday.
The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections task force traced the operation to Youli-Youmian, WeChat’s most popular news account, which intelligence reports link to China’s Communist Party’s central political and legal affairs commission.
“The information operation targeting Mr. Carney is deliberately amplifying narratives in a coordinated and inauthentic way on WeChat, to Chinese audiences, including communities living in Canada,” the government’s Privy Council Office said in a statement.
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Officials said the operation was designed to influence Chinese-Canadian communities ahead of the April 28 federal election by sharing both positive and negative narratives about Carney, first highlighting his stance on US relations, then targeting his experience and credentials.
The task force observed spikes in coordinated, inauthentic behavior on March 10 — the day after Carney won the Liberal leadership race — and again on March 25. Government documents indicate these posts received between 85,000 and 130,000 interactions and up to three million views, significantly higher than the approximately 30,000 interactions typical for posts from Chinese state media outlets like the People’s Daily.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa rejected the allegations in an emailed statement.
“It is simply absurd and unjustified to launch (a) groundless smear and attack against the Chinese government on the basis of individual remarks on a social media platform. China firmly opposes this and will never accept it,” the spokesperson said.
The Youli-Youmian account has previously targeted Conservative politician Michael Chong and former Liberal finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who challenged Carney for the Liberal leadership.
Laurie-Anne Kempton, assistant secretary to the cabinet for communications, told reporters that a panel of senior bureaucrats had determined the campaign would not affect Canada’s ability to hold a free and fair election, but added that the task force plans to raise concerns with WeChat developer Tencent.
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