Canada Targeted in 2nd China-Linked ‘Spamouflage’ Campaign, Says Global Affairs

The Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Ottawa is shown on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

A new disinformation campaign linked to the Chinese regime is targeting individuals based in Canada who are critical of Beijing, as well as their families, using tactics such as spreading AI-generated content to “intimidate, belittle, and harass” them, Global Affairs Canada says.

The latest “spamouflage” campaign is “more extensive” than the one reported in 2023, which targeted dozens of members of Parliament, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and several cabinet members, Global Affairs Canada said in a March 6 press release.

The new campaign, targeting Chinese-speaking individuals in Canada who are critical of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), is the first known to use sexually explicit content to target an individual in the country.

“[Rapid Response Mechanism] Canada has been able to attribute this new campaign, including the bots involved, to the PRC with high confidence,” reads the statement.

“Global Affairs Canada reached out to the victims of this new campaign and engaged with the relevant social media companies, which removed some of the content as it violated their policies and guidelines,” it added.

“New Spamouflage bots continue to be generated, however.”

The operation uses tactics like posting AI-generated videos that mimic real people on social media to spread false narratives and damage their credibility, the organization said. It added that other tactics include publicly sharing targeted individuals’ private information, such as their phone number, email, and home address, without their consent.

Spamouflage, a combination of the words “spam” and “camouflage,” involves the use of new or hijacked social media accounts to post and spread propaganda messages across multiple social media platforms, such as X, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Medium, Reddit, and LinkedIn.

The latest campaign began on Aug. 31, 2024, and is still ongoing, according to Global Affairs. Spamouflage agents post on average between 100 and 200 AI-manipulated videos, or deepfakes, per day.

Global Affairs said it has raised concerns directly with the Chinese embassy.

Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) Canada is a team within Global Affairs Canada that monitors the digital information environment for foreign state-sponsored disinformation.

“RRM Canada will continue to uphold the strength and resilience of our democratic institutions by monitoring the information environment and by shining a light on threats to democracy,” Global Affairs said.

Trudeau, Minister Joly ‘Secondary Targets’

The latest campaign involves sharing AI-manipulated videos in the comments section of X and Facebook accounts owned by the Canadian government and by Canadian media outlets.

The videos feature a Chinese-speaking online commentator in Canada, identified by Global Affairs as “individual 1,” appearing to accuse Canadian officials of criminal or unethical behavior, such as claiming that Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly had an “extramarital affair” with Trudeau.

“Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister Joly and other Canadian public figures are secondary targets,” according to Global Affairs.

The current campaign targets nine other Chinese-speaking individuals in Canada, said the organization.

“Individual 1,” who has previously posted content critical of the Chinese Communist Party, was also targeted in the 2023 spamouflage campaign, which “leveraged social media accounts of Canadian public figures in order to discredit and denigrate members of the Chinese diaspora in Canada,” said Global Affairs.

The previous campaign saw hundreds of bot-like accounts on X, YouTube, and Facebook spamming MPs with fake videos of “individual 1,” accusing them of engaging in unlawful or immoral behaviour.

Objectives of the latest operation include discrediting and denigrating the targeted individuals, harassing them by threatening to share their private information, and prompting Canadian authorities to investigate “individual 1.”

Global Affairs says the latest operation is “nearly identical” to that seen in 2023, “but is much larger and affects a greater number of Government of Canada (GoC) X accounts.”