A disturbing report in The Star suggests there has been a serious campaign of disinformation to promote Islamophobia in Canada. The source of this campaign? The state of Israel.
I have added emphasis in parts of the following:
On June 5, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz — citing sources and information it was able to obtain — reported that Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry hired a private political campaign firm called STOIC to conduct a “large-scale” influence campaign after the war in Gaza started last fall. The New York Times also reported on the alleged campaign on June 5, citing Israeli officials and documents about the covert operation to influence U.S. lawmakers and the public with “pro-Israel messaging.”
According to Haaretz, the alleged campaign created fake news sites and “hundreds” of social media accounts to spread pro-Israeli stories about sexual assaults committed by Hamas and alleged ties between the group and a United Nations relief agency that operates in the Gaza Strip. The campaign targeted American lawmakers, and included a “well-co-ordinated effort to attack and smear” pro-Palestinian groups that are mainly in the United States and Canada, with “deeply Islamophobic and anti-immigrant” content, the newspaper reported.
The newspaper reported this included a website called United Citizens for Canada, which allegedly spread Islamophobic claims that Muslim immigrants are a threat to Canada and demanding a sharia state.
Although the United Citizens for Canada website has been taken down, I was able to find an archived copy of its homepage. That page, which starts with a charming picture of the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, appears on first glance to be devoted to liberty and tolerance. However, a closer examination reveals something much darker:
United Citizens for Canada (UCC) is a vigilant non-profit organization, founded by committed to safeguarding Canada’s cherished values of freedom, democracy, and liberalism. Founded on the principle of awareness and education.
UCC founded by worried citizens who are concerned about the possible future Canada is heading and decided to actively change reality.
Our mission is to illuminate the concerns surrounding the growth of anti-liberal dangerous ideologies within our borders. We stand at the forefront of identifying and addressing the increasing presence and support for anti-liberal, aggressive and violent Islamic movements and organizations in Canada – a challenge intensified by our nation’s flexible and overly liberal immigration policies.
Our dedication is rooted in the belief that every Canadian deserves to live in a society that upholds democratic values and rejects anti-democratic messages. Through vigilant monitoring and exposure of events, demonstrations, and statements that threaten the fabric of our Canadian ethos, UCC aims to serve as a mirror to society, reflecting the urgent need for awareness and action against forces that seek to undermine our collective future by enforcing new values and a new order.
The Star article reveals that STOIC, referred to above, has been using Open AI to promote disinformation, and is linked with United Citizens for Canada:
OpenAI — the company behind the artificial intelligence chat bot ChatGPT — published its own report on misinformation campaigns that use its software. The report said the company banned users it determined were involved in an “influence operation” directed by STOIC that used OpenAI tools to create stories, fake social personas, and written comments primarily related to the conflict in Gaza, and posted on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). OpenAI also linked the United Citizens for Canada website to the operation.
The group [United Citizens for Canada] was also named in a March report by the Digital Forensic Research Lab project, which is run by an American think tank in Washington. The project reported that there was a “suspicious network operating across multiple social media platforms” that boosted “anti-Muslim and Islamophobic narratives” from United Citizens for Canada. The report alleges the network used AI to generate fake content that included altering images to make it look like a man in a beard and skullcap was advocating for “Sharia in Canada.”
The federal government is well-aware of the seriousness of this threat to the peace and order of our country. The question now is whether they will have the intestinal fortitude to hold Israel to account for this egregious incursion into our affairs.
I am not holding my breath.
