Canada, the land of “sorry” and open doors, accidentally left the democracy buffet unguarded. China waltzed in, munched on some votes, and whispered sweet nothings to politicians.
Canada was too busy being polite to notice, offering everyone Timbits and a friendly “eh?”. Big mistake. Thankfully, the country sobered up and slammed the beaver dam shut on foreign meddling. Now, they’re like a watchful moose, antlers sharp, ready to kick anyone who tries to mess with their elections.
But why now? Why this sudden realisation?
Remember the days when Canada was known for its beavers, not bowing? Well, under Trudeau, things got a little Peking Duck-y. China waltzed in like it owned the place, nibbling on everything from BRI projects to TikTok trends. It was like Xi Jinping was holding the reins, while Trudeau played horsey in a Winnie the Pooh costume.
First, China “invested” in Canadian infrastructure, basically buying Canada’s future like a cheap hockey jersey. Then, they started gobbling up industries like hungry pandas at a dim sum buffet. Tech titans like TikTok became their Trojan horses, spreading influence faster than maple syrup on pancakes. Even the country’s media became a Chinese takeout menu, serving up state-sponsored news.
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Trudeau? He just smiled and said “eh,” maybe offered some Timbits for good measure. He was too busy practicing tai chi with Xi to notice the red dragon tightening its grip. But Canadians are finally waking up from this sweet and sour nightmare. They’re pulling the reins back, demanding transparency, and booting out those Trojan horse apps. Trudeau might still be tap-dancing to Xi’s tune, but the rest of Canadians are shouting “no more!”
Trudeau’s little “romance” with China wasn’t just about infrastructure deals and TikTok trends. He was eyeing those juicy Chinese votes, hoping to pad his political cushion. But here’s the thing: the more he wooed Xi Jinping, the more he alienated Canadians. They weren’t exactly thrilled about China waltzing in and taking over their industries, media, and even their elections.
So, Trudeau, finally realizing he was skating on thin ice, did a 180. He started accusing China of meddling. Well, guess what? Xi Jinping wasn’t too happy about being called out. So, now, we’ve got this whole diplomatic slapfight going on, with Xi looking for ways to get back at Canada.
According to recent reports it has been revealed that China has launched a “spamouflage” campaign. The campaign is all about using waves of online posts to discredit Canadian MPs, the foreign ministry said. It says the campaign was carried out to silence criticism of Beijing.
China has previously denied any allegations of interference in Canadian affairs.
Global Affairs Canada said that its Rapid Response Mechanism, which was set up to monitor foreign state-sponsored disinformation efforts, detected in August a “spamouflage” campaign that is connected to Beijing.
It said the campaign, which accelerated over the first weekend of September, exactly when Canada launched a foreign interference inquiry tasked with probing any meddling in its elections by China. The campaign featured a bot network that “left thousands of comments” in Canada’s two official languages – English and French – on the social media accounts of several Canadian politicians.
The comments claimed that a critic of the Chinese Communist Party in Canada had accused the various politicians of criminal and ethical breaches. “The Spamouflage campaign also included the use of likely ‘deep fake’ videos, which are digitally modified by artificial intelligence, targeting the individual,” Global Affairs Canada said.
The accusations are the latest in a series of claims that have come out from Canadian intelligence agencies and officials that have accused Beijing of interfering in Canada’s elections.
A “spamouflage” campaign is one which uses a network of new or hijacked social media accounts to post propaganda messages across various platforms, such as Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Medium, Reddit, TikTok and LinkedIn.
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Officials said those same accounts were also involved in spreading disinformation about the Hawaii wildfires in August, falsely claiming that they were caused by a secret US military “weather weapon”.
In addition to the prime minister, the campaign targeted Conservative opposition leader Pierre Polievre and several members of Mr Trudeau’s cabinet, officials said. Global Affairs Canada said it has notified the affected social media platforms about the posts, “resulting in much of the activity and network being removed”.
The bot network behind this campaign could be linked to a larger, well-known Spamouflage network that has been publicly reported on in the past by tech giants like Meta and Microsoft, officials said.
Ironic, isn’t it? Trudeau, the one who led the Dragon into the Canadian living room, now finds himself singed by its fiery breath. He waltzed with Xi Jinping, blinded by the allure of votes and economic deals. Yeah, they let China have a free pass, but they learned their lesson. No more Mr. Nice Democracy.
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