‘Spamouflage’ is a tactic that uses new or hijacked social media accounts to post and amplify propaganda messages across multiple platforms, GAC says.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and dozens of Canadian MPs have been targeted by a “spamouflage” campaign coming from China, said Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
The agency’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) detected the campaign in which a bot network left thousands of comments in English and French on the social media accounts of Canadian MPs, the GAC said in a statement issued on Oct. 23. The incident was first detected in early August 2023 and accelerated in scale over the September long weekend, said the GAC.
“This campaign targeted dozens of MPs from across the political spectrum and spanning multiple geographic regions of Canada, including the Prime Minister, the leader of the Official Opposition, and several members of Cabinet,” the statement said.
According to the GAC, spamouflage is a tactic that employs networks of recently created or compromised social media accounts to disseminate and magnify propaganda messages across various platforms. RRM Canada’s analysis indicates that the bot network in question may be affiliated with the widely recognized spamouflage network that has been publicly reported by companies such as Meta and Microsoft, as well as by threat intelligence experts who have linked its activities to China.
The recently detected spam comments alleged that a critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Canada had accused multiple MPs of engaging in criminal and ethical misconduct. Notably, the GAC warned that the spamouflage campaign likely involved the use of “deepfake” videos, digitally altered by artificial intelligence, to specifically target the Canadian officials.
GAC said that the activities in question have not posed a security threat to politicians or their families. It also noted that all MPs have been briefed about this campaign and have received information on how to protect themselves against foreign interference and on reporting any suspicious activities.
By Andrew Chen
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