Canada accuses China of spreading disinformation about its Prime Minister

Canadian authorities denounced, in a report published on April 7, 2025, an influence campaign attributed to China targeting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Through a network of WeChat accounts, this operation is said to seek to disrupt the federal elections set for April 28, 2025. Messages have notably criticized Mark Carney’s qualifications and experience, as well as his supposed alignment with U.S. positions.

According to federal authorities, this campaign targets Chinese-Canadian communities and is centered around a popular anonymous news account called Youli-Youmia. The latter is reportedly affiliated with the Chinese state agency in charge of police, intelligence, and internal security.

Some disinformation messages have reached up to 3 million views, far surpassing the audience of Chinese state media such as the People’s Daily. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa denied any involvement by Beijing in the dissemination of these messages.