Latest news with #foreigninterference
CBC
7 days ago
- General
- CBC
It's time to act on foreign interference, attacks on dissidents, say opposition MPs
Social Sharing Opposition parties are calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney's government to quickly implement key provisions of the law adopted last year to counter foreign interference following new revelations that attacks on Chinese dissidents living in Canada and around the world are on the rise. Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said the "brazen" attacks by the Chinese government constitute a threat to Canadian democracy. "We've had more than enough reports, public inquiries, commissions that have highlighted this transnational repression and foreign interference," Chong said in an interview with CBC News. "It's now time for action." Chong's comments come in the wake of an investigation by CBC News, in conjunction with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which found attacks by the Chinese government on dissidents living in Canada — and around the world — are on the rise. Questioning of family members in China. Surveillance. Threatening phone calls. Online attacks. Spamouflage — which in one case led to fake, sexually explicit photos of one Quebec woman being spread online. In many cases, dissidents are targeted for expressing opinions contrary to the Chinese government's positions on what it calls "the five poisons": democracy in Hong Kong, treatment of Uyghurs, Tibetan freedom, the Falun Gong and Taiwanese independence. The Chinese embassy has yet to respond to questions from CBC News. It's a trend that worries experts on China, who say the attacks damage democracy and national security in Canada. Last June, Parliament adopted Bill C-70, which set out to counter foreign influence in elections and transnational repression of dissidents living in Canada. The legislation called for the establishment of a foreign agent registry and a foreign influence commissioner's office. Nearly a year later, those measures have not yet been put in place. NDP MP Jenny Kwan says it's time. "In light of the CBC investigation and the reports that have now come out, you would think that this would be a priority for the government. But so far, I have yet to hear the prime minister say foreign interference, transnational repression is a top priority for them." Kwan said people who are targeted by China are often told to go to the police, however she said that has often resulted in no action being taken. "All of that only just reinforces for them that there is no avenue for them to seek protection, that the Canadian government is not there with them in the face of such threats," she said. Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe said the government will be sending China a message if it doesn't act. "You can do whatever you want, we won't move. That's what the message will be. This is very dangerous," he said. Brunelle Duceppe said the Bloc has called for transnational repression to be added to Canada's Criminal Code. Chong said implementing Bill C-70 doesn't appear to be a priority for Carney's government. "The early signs are troubling," Chong said. "There's no mention in the speech from the throne. There's been no update on the establishment of this registry, and we've heard little from the government about protecting Canadians from these national security threats." The Public Safety Department says it is working on drafting the regulations to enact Bill C-70, setting up the commissioner's office and the IT infrastructure for the registry.
National Post
22-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
John Ivison: The election was a hotbed for disinformation. The next one will be worse
Information manipulation poses the single biggest threat to Canadian democracy, concluded commissioner Marie Josée Hogue, in her final report on foreign interference in federal elections, earlier this year. Article content It probably came as no surprise to the commissioner that emerging technologies amplified the falsehoods during the recent general election. Article content Generative AI has emerged as a new player in the disinformation game, enabling malign actors to create huge quantities of misleading content. Article content Article content Cyabra, a company that monitors disinformation online, published a two-part analysis on the use of fake profiles by co-ordinated networks on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram to target the Liberal campaign and party leader Mark Carney. Article content Article content The claims were often accompanied by fabricated images that suggested Carney is a 'child-molesting pervert' and were shared as if they were authentic. Article content A crossover from the online world to the campaign took place at a Liberal rally in Kitchener, Ont., when a heckler was heard shouting: 'How many kids did you molest with Jeffrey Epstein?' Article content Article content Cyabra's detection systems identified that nearly one-quarter of the X accounts were fake (the software looks for signs like synchronized posting, copy-paste campaigns, fake engagement loops and other bot-like behaviour, such as accounts with no personal bios and using default avatars). Article content Article content The other Cyabra analysis looked at activity on X between April 14th to 21st and found a surge of inauthentic activity aimed at creating negative perceptions of the Liberal party and Carney. Article content 'These are not abstract data points,' said Jill Burkes, Cyabra's communications lead. 'They show in real time how democratic discourse is being hijacked by actors who know exactly what buttons to push and when.'
Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
SNP's independence fever dream is a boon for malign forces
Scotland is a battlefield. Not just in the political sense of a clash of parties vying for power. Nor the constitutional sense of arguments over independence. I am talking about a battlefield where malign foreign powers attempt to undermine our democracy. Don't take my word for it. Listen instead to Jonathan Hall KC, the UK's independent reviewer of legislation on terrorism and state threats. In a lecture this week at the Policy Exchange he asked us to imagine what we would do if we were a spy intent on ripping apart the social fabric of British society. 'If I was a foreign intelligence officer of course I would meddle in separatism, whether Scottish independence or independence of overseas territories or Brexit,' he said. 'I
Russia Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Romania's top court rejects complaint about presidential election interference
Romania's Constitutional Court has rejected an election challenge filed by presidential candidate George Simion, ruling on Thursday that his claims of foreign interference were 'unfounded.' Months earlier, the same court had annulled the first round of a vote, citing 'irregularities' and intelligence claims of external meddling. On Sunday, the conservative EU critic lost a run-off vote against pro-Brussels Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan by a single-digit margin. Simion contested the outcome on Tuesday, alleging 'external interferences by state and non-state actors,' but the court unanimously rejected his petition. The ruling is final, the court said in a statement, pledging to provide a full explanation at a later date. In response, Simion, who has accused several nations, including France, of orchestrating interference, labeled the court's decision a 'continuation of a coup d'état' and vowed to continue his political fight. Last year, independent right-wing presidential candidate Calin Georgescu secured an unexpected lead, which the government attributed to foreign voter manipulation. Investigative journalists later suggested the campaign that triggered the annulment may have been orchestrated by a Romanian political party to divide the conservative electorate. Georgescu was disqualified from the re-run. Telegram founder Pavel Durov claimed last week that the head of France's foreign intelligence agency, the DGSE, had asked him to suppress conservative voices on the platform during Romania's campaign season. The agency publicly denied the allegation. Durov in turn accused French authorities of deflecting criticism by linking him to unrelated criminal investigations involving users of his platform. Following Simion's challenge, Durov offered to testify before Romanian authorities about the interactions with French officials, saying he would do so 'if it helps Romanian democracy.' Ahead of the run-off vote, Romania's Foreign Ministry accused Russia of attempting to influence the outcome. Moscow ridiculed the allegations, calling the process a 'mess' and stating that it shouldn't even count as a proper vote.
Russia Today
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Telegram founder ready to help ‘Romanian democracy'
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has promised to come to Romania and testify on the alleged foreign interference into the country's presidential election. Durov promised to 'help' the Romanian democracy in a post on X on Tuesday, responding to a message by George Simion, a Eurosceptic right-wing candidate who narrowly lost the election. Simion claimed the polls were subject to 'external interferences by state and non-state actors,' including France and Moldova, and urged the country's Constitutional Court to immediately annul the results. 'I'm ready to come and testify if it helps Romanian democracy,' Durov wrote in response to Simion's post. The Sunday runoff was won by pro-EU centrist Nicusor Dan by a margin of 53.6% to 46.4%. Simion, however, refused to recognize the outcome, accusing foreign parties of attempting to undermine his campaign. Simion's claims received unexpected backing from Durov, who has claimed that French foreign intelligence chief Nicolas Lerner personally asked him to censor conservatives on his platform ahead of the latest attempt to elect Romania's president. France's foreign intelligence service, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), has denied the claims, insisting it had contacted the Telegram founder only to 'firmly remind him of his company's responsibilities, and his own personally, in preventing terrorist and child pornography threats.' Durov was arrested in France last August and charged with complicity in crimes allegedly carried out by Telegram users. The Russian-born entrepreneur, whose company is headquartered in Dubai,was ultimately released on €5 million ($5.46 million) bail and allowed to leave the country mid-March. The latest attempt to elect the president in Romania follows a major political scandal prompted by the November vote, when the first round was unexpectedly won by hardline right-wing independent Calin Georgescu. The initial vote was promptly annulled by Romania's Constitutional Court, which cited alleged Russian interference. Media reports citing initial findings of the probe into the affair indicated Georgescu's surprise surge was likely prompted by a campaign staged by a firm with ties to the ruling National Liberal Party, which presumably sought to split the conservative vote. Georgescu, however, was ultimately banned from participating in the new election. Romania's Foreign Ministry has accused Moscow of meddling in the latest runoff as well. The Russian government has dismissed the claim, stating that Bucharest's 'electoral mess' shouldn't even count as a proper vote.
