The New Democratic Party (NDP) is accusing the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) of using troll farms to “create a false sense of momentum for Pierre Poilievre in northern Ontario,” according to a statement released Tuesday by the NDP. Following the Conservative leader’s visit to Kirkland Lake, hundreds of accounts on the X platform posted extremely similar messages, all offering their support for Mr. Poilievre.
The NDP said in the statement that it had “noticed that the X platform has been flooded with messages from people claiming to have attended Pierre Poilievre’s recent event in Kirkland Lake, Ontario.”
“I just got back from Pierre Poilievre’s rally in Kirkland Lake and I’m still reeling from the energy! As a northern Ontarian, it’s refreshing to see a leader who truly understands our unique challenges,” one post reads.
According to the observations of the Dutythe hundreds of posts differ slightly from each other, while maintaining an identical structure. According to these posts, their authors were all present in Kirkland Lake during the gathering, loved it, and are all from northern Ontario.
However, according to the information on the profiles of the authors of the publications, they come from all over the world. “The messages have identical wording and were generated by accounts claiming to come from Russia, France and elsewhere,” the NPD claims.
“Troll farms” are groups, usually foreign, that hold a large number of fake accounts on various platforms and can use them to spread information — or an opinion — quickly.
Charlie Angus, the NDP MP for Timmins—James Bay, said in the statement that “the Conservatives must explain why these foreign troll farms are being used to influence Canadian voters in favour of Mr. Poilievre.” He said it “could be a worrying practice for what Mr. Poilievre’s machine has in store for the next federal election.”
“The CCP does not pay for robots”
In an email, Sarah Fischer, the Conservative Party’s communications director, states that “the CPC does not pay for the bots and has no idea who is behind these accounts.” She notes that “the same type of bot accounts are also promoting the Prime Minister” and that “we remain very concerned about any foreign interference and call on the government to disclose anything it may know.” “It is not surprising that the NDP is once again spreading baseless conspiracy theories,” Ms.me Fisher.
For his part, Jagmeet Singh announced at a press briefing in Yellowknife Tuesday that the NDP will file a request for an investigation with Elections Canada and the Ethics Commissioner on Wednesday. “It’s clear that there are elements that are disturbing in these messages on social networks. [Pierre Poilievre] must answer.”
The possibility that a third party organization is responsible does not escape the NDP leader, who remains concerned about the situation. “We need to have an investigation, we need to know if it was another organization or foreign interference.”
At a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, Conservative MP Luc Berthold said that the use of bot accounts is “a conspiracy theory that has no place.” “We don’t need bots to attract crowds, Pierre Poilievre is more than enough to attract people to his rallies,” said the MP for Mégantic — L’Érable.
As for the issue of foreign interference raised by these foreign robots, Mr. Berthold recalled that the CCP has a “zero tolerance policy on foreign interference.”