Update on Canada’s Actions to Protect General Election 45

The Government of Canada held its third briefing to media regarding the actions that it is taking to protect the 45th General Election from foreign interference.

Ottawa, Ontario, April 7, 2025 - Today in Ottawa, the Government of Canada held its third briefing to media regarding the actions that it is taking to protect the 45th General Election from foreign interference.

As part of its mandate to monitor the digital information ecosystem during the general election, the SITE Task Force has observed an information operation targeting the 45th general election.

The information operation is taking place on the social media platform WeChat, and was launched by Youli-Youmian (有理儿有面), WeChat’s most popular news account. Intelligence reporting links the Youli-Youmian account to the PRC Chinese Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission.

The content of this information operation contains stories about the Prime Minister, Liberal Party of Canada leader, and candidate in Nepean, Mark Carney.

The SITE Task Force observed large spikes of coordinated inauthentic behaviour preceding the election campaign, on March 10, and again during the writ period on March 25, 2025. Following increasing levels of engagement on the platform, the Liberal Party representative was briefed about the findings on April 6.

The SITE Task Force will be discussing this issue with Tencent, the developer of WeChat, to raise our concerns.

At this time, the Panel has determined that this activity is not affecting Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election. This case is contained to one platform and has not spread further, nor is it affecting Canadians’ abilities to make an informed decision about their vote.