‘Spamouflage’ targeted Canadian lawmakers, PM

A disinformation campaign linked to China targeted Canadian lawmakers critical of the Chinese government, Canada's Global Affairs department said on Monday.

Thousands of messages dubbed "spamouflage" were left by bot networks on the social media accounts of dozens of members of Parliament, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, accusing them of criminal and ethical violations.

The bot network also put out waves of deepfake videos manipulated to try to disparage and discredit the MPs.

The spamouflage started in early August and scaled up in September, according to the department.

Tech giant Meta said in an August security report it had purged thousands of Facebook and Instagram accounts that were part of the widespread online Chinese spam operation.

Active across more than 50 platforms and forums including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and X, formerly known as Twitter, a Meta executive said it was believed to be "the largest" and "most prolific covert influence operation" in the world.

The network typically posted praise for China and criticisms of the United States, Western foreign policies, and critics of the Chinese government including journalists and researchers, the Meta report said.

Other targets have included Taiwan, Australia, Britain, Japan and global Chinese-speaking audiences.

Relations between Ottawa and Beijing hit a low this year following accusations of Chinese meddling in Canadian elections and the attempted intimidation of MPs that led to the expulsion of a Chinese diplomat in May.