Chinese government behind Carney posts on WeChat

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OTTAWA — Canada’s electoral interference watchdog says the Chinese government is behind recent campaigns on China’s largest social media network to influence opinion of Liberal Leader Mark Carney.

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On March 10 and March 25, Youli-Youmian, the most popular news account on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, shared posts about Carney that cast him in a generally positive light.

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Both posts on the Youli-Youmian account soon caught fire at a suspiciously fast pace, garnering between 85,000 and 130,000 interactions and an estimated one to three million views.

The posts got so much attention so quickly on the Chinese platform that they caught the eye of Canada’s Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force, which discovered that the Youli-Youmian posts were part of an information campaign by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The content had received an unusually high amount of engagement (via comments or shares, for example) from a group of 30 smaller WeChat accounts that boosted the posts’ visibility well beyond the norm and for at least four days.

“This content has been amplified in a coordinated and inauthentic way. This information operation had contrasting positive and negative narratives, first amplifying Mr. Carney’s stance with the United States and then targeting his experience and credentials,” said PCO assistant secretary for communications Laurie-Anne Kempton during a Monday briefing for reporters in Ottawa.

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“The SITE Task Force assesses that the foreign, state-backed information operation was intended to influence Canadian Chinese communities and look to mould perceptions” about Carney, she added.

The March 10 post was titled “The US encounters a ‘tough guy’ Prime Minister” and describes Carney’s position on President Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

The March 25 post, titled “Canada’s road to a ‘seeking survival’ election,” describes Carney’s political road to Liberal leader but also notes that his career to date has “not been smooth” and he’s been criticized by Conservatives for refusing to disclose his assets.

Kempton said the government discovered the manipulation by Beijing and advised a Liberal party liaison on Sunday.

SITE members said they were warning the public of the scheme so that they were aware of China’s attempts to manipulate the information seen by Chinese-Canadians. But they would not tell reporters what they believed China’s intent was with this information manipulation campaign.

“The PRC should not be trying to shape the opinions of Canadians, especially during an election period,” Kempton said.

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But the watchdog emphasized that the campaign had not impacted Canada’s ability to have a free and fair federal election.

“At this time, the panel has determined that this is not affecting Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election. This case is contained to one platform and has not spread further, nor is it affecting Canadians’ abilities to make informed decisions about their vote,” Kempton said.

SITE also noted that the Youli-Youmian account was also behind information campaigns targeting then Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland in January and another one targeting Conservative MP Michael Chong in 2023.

In an interview, former national security analyst Stephanie Carvin said the posts on Carney appeared to be “loosely positive” but were not a “full-throated endorsement” that clearly suggested support for the Liberal leader.

She theorized that the campaign may be the Chinese government testing new algorithm-manipulation techniques that it could later deploy on a larger scale.

“It could be that they’re trying to support Carney. It could be that they’re just testing the waters,” said Carvin, now an associate professor of international relations at Carleton University.

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“And then the third thing could be that this is something that they felt sent a message that perhaps is just not clear to us. Because, I want to be very clear here, they don’t always understand democracy,” she added of the Chinese Communist Party.

In a statement, Conservative candidate Michael Chong accused Beijing of spreading information in support of the Liberal Party of Canada.

“They know that for a decade the Liberals have turned a blind eye to Beijing’s interference in Canada’s democracy. They know that the Liberals have stood by as Beijing interfered in our democracy, targeted and harassed our citizens, and threatened Canada’s interests at home and abroad,” Chong said in a statement.

National Post

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