Security officials report ‘repression’ operation targeting Conservative candidate Joe Tay
New Operation Targets Conservative Candidate Opposed to Chinese Government Policies
Canadian security officials have identified a foreign repression operation targeting Joe Tay, the federal Conservative candidate for the Don Valley North riding in suburban Toronto. Tay is known for his vocal opposition to Chinese government policies, which has made him a target of online attacks.
The operation includes a mock “wanted” poster and disparaging headlines and comments about Tay, aimed at discrediting him and undermining his credibility as a political candidate. Last year, Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants for Tay and five other activists based overseas, offering bounties of approximately $185,000 for information leading to their arrests.
According to the Security and Intelligence Threats to Elections (SITE) Task Force, the operation is primarily taking place on social media platforms popular among Chinese-speaking users in Canada, such as Facebook, WeChat, TikTok, RedNote, and Douyin. The task force has observed two significant trends related to Tay during the electoral campaign period.
Coordinated Amplification of Negative Content
One trend identified by the SITE Task Force is the “inauthentic and coordinated” amplification of content related to the Hong Kong bounty and the arrest warrant against Tay. Multiple accounts or platforms have been publishing or interacting with this content simultaneously, increasing its visibility and reach among users.
Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet for Communications, Laurie-Anne Kempton, explained that this coordinated activity aims to discredit Tay and question his ability to hold political office. The source of this online operation has been traced back to a Facebook account historically linked to Chinese government authorities and pro-Beijing entities in Hong Kong.
Deliberate Suppression of Search Terms
The second trend observed by the task force is the deliberate suppression of search terms related to Tay on certain China-based social media platforms used by Canadians. Keywords and mentions of Tay’s name in both simplified and traditional Chinese have been censored, limiting the exposure of positive information about the candidate.
Kempton emphasized that the goal of this repression operation is to silence criticism, manipulate information, and discredit Tay as a political candidate. While the online activity has not been found to directly impact Canada’s electoral process, officials stress the importance of raising awareness among voters.
Security officials have briefed a representative of the Conservative Party about the repression operation and have also alerted social media platforms to the findings. Efforts are being made to address any violations of terms of service and mitigate the impact of this online campaign on the democratic process.
