A coordinated disinformation campaign believed to have ties to China has targeted Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland through the popular social media platform WeChat, according to the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE).
In a statement released Friday, SITE confirmed that the campaign spread “disparaging” and “malicious” content about Freeland between January 29 and February 3, originating from one of WeChat’s most popular news accounts—a source that experts have linked to the People’s Republic of China.
“The campaign received very high levels of engagement and views, with WeChat news articles disparaging Ms. Freeland netting over 140,000 interactions,” SITE reported, estimating that the posts were seen by two to three million users worldwide.
While the task force did not specify the exact nature of the derogatory content, it emphasized that such interference poses a serious threat to Canada’s democratic processes.
Freeland, a former deputy prime minister and current frontrunner in the Liberal leadership race, responded firmly to the revelations.
“I will not be intimidated by Chinese foreign interference,” she posted on social media Friday evening. “Having spent years confronting authoritarian regimes, I know firsthand the importance of defending our freedoms.”
The Liberal Party of Canada confirmed that it was briefed on the interference by SITE, and party spokesperson Parker Lund pledged continued cooperation with security agencies.
“We will continue to work with SITE to further ensure the leadership vote is secure and fair,” Lund said in a statement.
Fellow leadership candidate Mark Carney also condemned the foreign interference, offering his full support to Freeland.
“I am fully committed to defending the integrity of this race and stand firm against any attempts to undermine our democracy,” Carney stated on social media.
The SITE Task Force, which includes representatives from CSIS, the RCMP, the Communications Security Establishment, and Global Affairs Canada’s Rapid Response Mechanism, was established to monitor and counter foreign threats to Canadian elections. Initially focused on federal elections, the group has since expanded its scope to include byelections and leadership races.
According to Global Affairs Canada, the Rapid Response Mechanism detected the WeChat campaign as part of its ongoing efforts to track state-sponsored disinformation.
The revelations come just weeks after a public inquiry into foreign election interference warned that misinformation and disinformation pose an “existential threat” to Canadian democracy.
“Misinformation and disinformation have the ability to distort our discourse, change our views, and shape our society,” Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue wrote in her final report. “At this juncture, information manipulation (whether foreign or not) poses the single biggest risk to our democracy.”
The targeting of Freeland marks yet another instance of foreign interference in Canadian political affairs, adding to long-standing concerns about China’s influence operations. Previous intelligence reports have raised alarms about attempts to influence federal elections and undermine political candidates through coordinated disinformation campaigns.
As Canada prepares for a new Liberal leader and a potential federal election in 2025, national security agencies continue to closely monitor attempts to manipulate public opinion and interfere in democratic processes.
For now, Freeland has vowed to continue her leadership campaign undeterred, while SITE and other intelligence agencies remain on high alert for further election-related interference.