Chrystia Freeland target of ‘malicious’ information operation linked to China: Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs Canada says a foreign information campaign linked to China is targeting Chrystia Freeland’s bid to become leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Global Affairs Canada said its Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) “detected coordinated and malicious activity about Ms. Freeland” linked to WeChat’s most popular news account -– an anonymous blog that has been previously linked by experts at the China Digital Times to the People’s Republic of China.

RRM Canada identified over 30 WeChat news accounts taking part in the campaign, the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE) said in a release Friday.

The campaign garnered widespread views and engagement of news articles disparaging Freeland, the release says.

RRM Canada estimates that two to three million WeChat users saw the campaign globally.

Freeland was quick to respond to the report, releasing a statement saying she “will not be intimidated by Chinese foreign interference.”

I will not be intimidated by Chinese foreign interference.

Having spent years confronting authoritarian regimes, I know firsthand the importance of defending our freedoms.

Canada’s democracy is strong. My thanks to our national security agencies for protecting it. https://t.co/tbc25Nna8g

— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) February 7, 2025

Freeland was informed about the campaign against her today.

“On February 7, 2025, SITE briefed the executive of the Liberal Party of Canada and members of Ms. Freeland’s leadership campaign about these findings,” the release adds.

“The members of SITE will continue to monitor the digital information environment for foreign information manipulation, and to shine a light on hostile foreign state-backed information operations during the Liberal Party of Canada leadership campaign.”

Back in 2023, the federal government banned WeChat from government-issued devices over security concerns.

WeChat is a social network, messaging and payments app from Chinese company, Tencent.