The Conservative Party of Canada is denying involvement in bolstering Pierre Poilievre’s recent appearance in Kirkland Lake using what appears to be fake social media accounts, called bots.
In the days following the Conservative Party of Canada leader’s tour of Northern Ontario, which included a stop in Sudbury, numerous accounts on X.com have posted about their experience.
“Pierre Poilievre’s northern Ontario tour is bringing people together! As a northerner myself, I’m thrilled to see a leader who gets it,” one post purportedly from someone in Wyoming read. “Last night’s rally in Kirkland Lake was electric — the packed crowd was a testament to his commitment to our community.”
Numerous nearly identical posts from throughout the world were also posted to social media, prompting online ridicule, including one post on X.com parodying the situation by showing a large crowd of thousands of people purporting to have attended the Kirkland Lake rally.
“Apparently, thousands of people from around the world converged on Kirkland Lake to listen to Pierre Poilievre in a 200-seat curling rink,” another person posted to X.com.
Political cartoonist Chris Chuckry posted an editorial cartoon to X.com in which Poilievre is pictured surrounded by “Bot” plants within a bot farm.
The federal NDP weighed in, issuing a media release asking, “Did the Conservatives hire bot farms for Pierre Poilievre’s Northern Ontario tour?”
“Pierre Poilievre needs to explain himself,” Timmins—James Bay NDP MP Charlie Angus said in his party’s media release.
“Are the Conservatives using foreign bot farms to create fake momentum in Canada? This could be a disturbing practice run for what the Poilievre machine has in store for the coming federal election.”
Sudbury.com reached out to the Conservative Party of Canada for their response, and they dismissed the NDP’s comments as “spreading baseless conspiracy theories.”
“A little investigation would lead you to discover that the same type of bot accounts also promote the Prime Minister,” Conservative Party of Canada director of communications Sarah Fischer said in an email.
“The CPC does not pay for bots and has no idea who is behind these accounts. We are seeking the support of actual Canadians, as witnessed by large in-person turnouts at our events.”
Sudbury.com asked Fischer for examples of cases where bot accounts were used to promote Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but we did not receive a response.
Bot accounts have been widely reported to primarily support right-leaning governments, and were responsible for promoting #TrudeauMustGo in 2019.
So-called “spamouflage” campaigns connected to the People’s Republic of China have targeted dozens of MPs, including Trudeau. A combination of spam and camouflage, the Government of Canada wrote that it is “intended to portray the hidden attempts to spread spam-like content and propaganda among more every-day, human-interest-style content.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.