NDP requests Elections Canada to investigate bot farms boosting Poilievre

OTTAWA— Canada’s NDP has written to Commissioner of Canada Elections Caroline Simard to request an investigation into apparent bot farms attempting to boost Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.

Over the weekend, hundreds of obviously bogus posts on the social media platform X claimed they had attended a Pierre Poilievre event and were “still buzzing.” In addition to hundreds of nearly and completely identical posts, some revealed the fakery with bizarre claims like one which said the poster “had to brave the cold” to attend the July 31 event in Northern Ontario.

The accounts claim to be from Russia and other European nations.

In a letter to Simard, NDP deputy critic for Ethics Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) and NDP critic for Democratic Reform Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) pointed out that bot farms have been identified as part of broader campaigns to undermine democracies.

“Citizens can freely share their views and commentary about political events. Political parties can pay for advertising to promote a consistent message as per the transparency rules of the Elections Canada Act. However, if offshore bot farms are being utilized to circumvent these rules, it raises serious questions about the integrity of Canada’s democratic process,” wrote Angus and Barron.

The New Democrats’ letter requests that Simard investigate to ensure the Conservative Party of Canada did not engage a bot farm; or if a different party in Canada paid for the bots, that an investigation ensures third-party advertising rules were followed; or that if a foreign actor is attempting to interfere in Canada’s election that appropriate investigations and actions are launched.

The letter can be found here.