Canada says China-linked information campaign spreading false narratives about prime minister

A China-linked information campaign is using a network of WeChat accounts to attack Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of the country’s upcoming federal election, authorities said.

Ottawa officials said in a report Monday that the campaign centers around a popular anonymous news account called Youli-Youmia, which is linked to a Chinese state agency responsible for policing, intelligence and internal security. The operation targets Canadian-Chinese communities, specifically people living in Canada who speak Chinese languages, according to the report.

The federal election in Canada is scheduled for April 28, with four major parties contesting: the governing Liberals, the Conservatives, the New Democrats (NDP) and the Bloc Quebecois.

According to Canadian intelligence, the operation used a coordinated network of WeChat accounts to amplify shifting narratives about Carney, a former central banker running for a parliamentary seat in Nepean, Ontario.

Initially praising Carney’s alignment with U.S. policies, the posts later attacked his credentials and experience. Canadian officials said these narratives were pushed in an “inauthentic and coordinated” manner to influence political perceptions.

Some posts reached as many as 3 million views — far surpassing engagement levels typical of state-run Chinese outlets such as People’s Daily. A group of 30 smaller WeChat accounts reportedly helped boost visibility of the posts to keep them in users’ algorithmic feeds.

The Youli-Youmian account has previously targeted other Canadian officials, including lawmaker Michael Chong in June 2023 and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in January 2025.

Independent Chinese media have reported that employees at state-owned enterprises are sometimes assigned to promote such content as part of their work duties, suggesting state-directed efforts behind the campaign.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Ottawa denied any involvement.

“It is simply absurd and unjustified to launch a groundless smear and attack against the Chinese government on the basis of individual remarks on a social media platform,” the spokesperson said in a comment to Chinese newspaper Global Times. “China firmly opposes this and will never accept it.”

Canada’s spy agency warned last month that China was likely to attempt to interfere in the federal election amid rising tensions between the two nations. In January, Beijing imposed tariffs on over $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products, retaliating against Ottawa’s trade actions on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.

Despite being used by over 1 million people in Canada, WeChat remains largely understudied by information integrity researchers. Officials believe Beijing is exploiting this gap to conduct covert influence operations with minimal scrutiny.

In October 2023, Canadian officials were barred from using WeChat on government-issued devices over privacy and security concerns. China’s foreign ministry dismissed the move at the time as being politically motivated. Earlier in 2023, Canada also banned TikTok from official devices, citing similar national security risks.