Canada accuses China of targeting lawmakers, PM Trudeau via 'Spamouflage' campaign

The Canadian government, on Monday (Oct 23), released a statement saying that it detected a China-linked "Spamouflage" campaign which it claimed had bots spamming the social media accounts of members of parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with disinformation and propaganda.

The Spamouflage campaign, which used networks of newly created and hijacked accounts on social media to post bulk messages, happened in August and September this year, said the foreign ministry in a statement.

The campaign targeted dozens of lawmakers from across the political spectrum, the statement added.

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The messages that were posted on the internet, accused the lawmakers of criminal and ethical violations and also included a claim alleging that the Hawaiian wildfires were caused by a secret U.S. military "weather weapon" and deepfake videos.

Many such comments in English and French languages were posted on the lawmakers' Facebook and X accounts, after which the government teamed up with the networks and removed the bot networks.

"This campaign could discourage and make it difficult for MPs to carry out their duties and may dissuade MPs and diaspora communities in Canada from speaking out on issues which concern them," said a foreign ministry report about the incident.

Accusations are blatant smear campaign:Beijing

The Chinese embassy in Canada released a statement saying that Beijing has never interfered in the internal affairs of other countries. It further said that the allegations by Ottawa were a "blatant smear campaign" and that Canada was a "downright liar and disseminator of false information".

"For some time now, the Canadian side has been falsely accusing China of spreading false information against Canadian politicians, a move that is in itself a dissemination of false information, in the absence of any direct and substantive evidence," the embassy statement said, adding that Canada should do more to improve and develop bilateral relations.

The China-Canada relations hit rock bottom after Canadian police detained a Chinese telecommunications executive in late 2018, after which Beijing retaliated and arrested two Canadians on spying charges. All three have since been released.

Canada, has in the past, also levelled allegations against China for interfering in its affairs via various schemes such as illegal police stations and the targeting of lawmakers. China has strongly rebuffed all such accusations.

(With inputs from agencies)

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