Federal unit uncovers ‘malicious’ effort tied to China aimed at Chrystia Freeland

OTTAWA — A federal unit that tracks suspected foreign interference has uncovered a “co-ordinated and malicious” effort — possibly launched by China — against Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland.

Rapid Response Mechanism Canada, based at Global Affairs Canada, is monitoring cyberspace for signs of state-sponsored information manipulation on behalf of the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force.

The government recently announced the task force, which is usually active during election campaigns, would operate during the Liberal leadership contest.

In a statement, the task force says the information operation directed at Freeland was traced to WeChat’s most popular news account — an anonymous blog that has been previously linked to the Chinese government.

The task force says RRM Canada identified more than 30 WeChat news accounts taking part in the campaign, which received “very high levels of engagement and views.”

WeChat news articles disparaging Freeland netted more than 140,000 interactions between Jan. 29 and Feb. 3, and RRM Canada estimates that two to three million WeChat users saw the campaign globally.

On Friday, the task force briefed the Liberal party executive and members of Freeland’s leadership campaign about the findings, the statement said.

In a post on X, Freeland says she “will not be intimidated” by Chinese foreign interference.

“Having spent years confronting authoritarian regimes, I know firsthand the importance of defending our freedoms,” Freeland said. “Canada’s democracy is strong. My thanks to our national security agencies for protecting it.”

Fellow Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney said in a post on X that he fully supports Freeland and her campaign “in light of this disturbing report.”

“I am fully committed to defending the integrity of this race and stand firm against any attempts to undermine our democracy,” Carney said.

Task force members will continue to monitor the online environment for foreign, state-backed information operations during the leadership campaign, the statement added.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2025.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press