Freeland targeted by 'malicious' WeChat campaign with alleged ties to China: Threat task force

China may have launched a "disparaging" and "malicious" campaign against Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland on the social media platform WeChat, according to the task force set up to monitor foreign election interference.

The Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections Task Force (SITE) said in a release Friday an information operation directed at Freeland was traced to WeChat's "most popular news account," an anonymous blog that experts have linked to the People's Republic of China.

The Chinese social media app is immensely popular and part of daily life in the country, from news to communication to banking, and has more than a billion users worldwide.

In a statement, SITE, which is made up of senior Canadian intelligence and security officials, wrote that over 30 WeChat news accounts took part in the campaign between Jan. 29 and Feb. 3.

"The campaign received very high levels of engagement and views, with WeChat news articles disparaging Ms. Freeland netting over 140,000 interactions," it said.

WATCH | Task force says Freeland target of suspected foreign interference: 

Freeland targeted by 'malicious' WeChat campaign with alleged ties to China: Threat task force

3 hours ago

Duration 3:48

Chrystia Freeland's Liberal leadership campaign has been targeted by 'co-ordinated and malicious activity' traced back to a WeChat account accused of having ties to the Chinese government, according to the task force set up to monitor foreign election interference.

The task force estimates that two to three million WeChat users saw the campaign globally. SITE did not say what the "derogatory" content was about or list any of the WeChat accounts in question.

SITE said it briefed Freeland and the Liberal Party of Canada on Friday.

"I will not be intimidated by Chinese foreign interference," said Freeland in a social media post Friday evening. "Having spent years confronting authoritarian regimes, I know firsthand the importance of defending our freedoms." 

Liberal Party spokesperson Parker Lund said in a statement the party will continue to work with SITE "to further ensure the leadership vote is secure and fair."

The task force was initially set up to monitor federal elections and has since taken on byelections and the Liberal leadership race.

The campaign was observed by Global Affairs Canada's Rapid Response Mechanism, a member of SITE that watches for state-sponsored disinformation online. The task force also includes representatives of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS), the RCMP and the Communications Security Establishment Canada.

The recently wrapped public inquiry into foreign election interference called misinformation and disinformation an "existential threat."

"Misinformation and disinformation have the ability to distort our discourse, change our views and shape our society," Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue wrote in her final report.

"In my view it is no exaggeration to say that at this juncture, information manipulation (whether foreign or not) poses the single biggest risk to our democracy." 

Fellow Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney wrote in a social media post Friday 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," he wrote.