How China spreads fake news in Canada

6 December 20212 years ago babelfish

Here's what DisinfoWatch reveals about Chinese disinformation in Canada

According to reports from DisinfoWatch , which monitors and exposes foreign disinformation activity in Canada, China has put in place a real coordinated disinformation action aimed at Canadian Chinese voters during the federal elections of 2021.

"After analyzing the available open source data and consulting key stakeholders, we believe the timing and content of the narratives indicate the likelihood of a coordinated influence operation targeting Chinese-Canadian voters," says a 1st report. December.

“The goal of this false narrative was to incite fear and anger towards the candidate and the Conservative Party in targeted communities. The ultimate impact of these and other conservative-targeted influence operations is difficult to measure, even if influence and voter conversion remain the likely target. "

Those pro-Beijing actors, the report's authors said, are spreading disinformation narratives on various media platforms, including the CCP Global Times spokesperson, the WeChat app, and local Sino-Canadian websites.

One example the authors cited was a Global Times article published on September 9 that condemned the Conservative Party platform, particularly its foreign policy related to the CCP. The article also threatened that there would be retaliation if Canadians elected a Conservative government.

The authors noted that, despite the Global Times' small audience in Canada, the article allows the Chinese regime to "set the tone for Canadian national platforms and actors" who "would actively support illiberalism and far-left authoritarians. and far right ”and would spread CCP propaganda and disinformation nationwide.

DisinfoWatch said the motivation for the Chinese regime's disinformation campaign was likely a way to deflect criticism of its authoritarian rule and protect its interests.

“In the face of criticism from governments, media or activists abroad – the report reads – the Chinese government often deploys tactical counter-narratives that aim to discredit and undermine them”.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/come-la-cina-diffonde-fake-news-in-canada/ on Sun, 05 Dec 2021 10:20:22 +0000.