Chiu was recently documented by the Atlantic Council think tank’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab), in a November report.ĭFRLab analyzed anonymous articles circulating on Chinese language apps and websites such as WeChat and Weibo, both heavily used by some Canadians of Chinese origin, that misrepresented a private member’s bill Mr. Chiu’s defeat was linked to the propaganda campaign against him, but foreign affairs critic Michael Chong acknowledges the evidence is so far inconclusive. Data from the 2016 census indicate the ethnic origin of the riding’s population is close to 50 per cent Chinese. Chiu, a Canadian who was born in Hong Kong, was elected as the member of Parliament for the federal riding of Steveston-Richmond East in B.C’s Lower Mainland in 2019 but was defeated in the 2021 election. Fung is a professor and Canada Research Chair in data mining for cybersecurity. Lee is a research assistant in the School of Information Studies at Montreal’s McGill University, where Mr. Writing this month in Policy Options, a publication of Canada’s Institute for Research on Public Policy, Sze-Fung Lee and Benjamin Fung say Canada needs to better protect itself from disinformation campaigns that could damage this country’s electoral process. “In short it has high potential for interference in Canada’s electoral process by foreign state actors and thus severely threatens the country’s liberal democracy.” What is alarming is “these tactics could be deployed against any group in an information and psychological warfare campaign,” the authors say. The comments were disseminated on apps and websites widely used by some Canadians of Chinese origin, who make up approximately half of his riding’s population. Chiu’s proposal was condemned on Chinese-language social media, alleging his plan would “suppress the Chinese community” in Canada. MP Kenny Chiu was attacked during the election campaign for proposing.ĭuring the 2021 federal election campaign Mr. Two researchers at McGill University say a disinformation campaign against a Conservative Party candidate during the 2021 election race is a disturbing demonstration of how propaganda tactics could be used by hostile foreign actors to interfere with Canada’s political system.Īnd they suggest a countermeasure to discourage future disinformation efforts would be a public registry to track foreign influence that is similar to the very mechanism that former B.C.