0 active · 4 total
Incidents
Tracking declared information incidents
Ripple Effects of the Charlie Kirk Assassination in the Canadian Information Ecosystem
Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. The incident sparked highly charged and polarized online conversations, disinformation, and calls for political violence in both American and Canadian information environments. Foreign state actors (Russia, China, Iran) exploited the tragedy. CDMRN tracked the incident across 8 updates and a final debrief.
AI-Generated Scams Mimicking Real News
Surge in AI-generated advertisements masquerading as legitimate Canadian news sources (particularly CBC and CTV), linked to cryptocurrency scams. Ads originated from multiple countries (Iceland, Czechia, India, US) targeting Canadian audiences with politically charged, divisive content during the 2025 federal election. Increased in volume, political nature, and sophistication over the election period.
Russian Funding of US and Canadian Political Influencers
The US Department of Justice indicted two Russian nationals on September 4, 2024, for funding Tenet Media — a network controlled by Canadian influencer Lauren Chen and her husband Liam Donovan. They allegedly accepted nearly $10 million USD from Russian state media outlet RT to spread Kremlin propaganda. The network posted over 2,000 videos on YouTube accumulating 16+ million views. CDMRN tracked across 8 updates and a final debrief.
Kirkland Lake Bot Campaign
Following a Pierre Poilievre rally in Kirkland Lake, Ontario on July 31, 2024, hundreds of posts from over 100 suspicious accounts appeared on X on August 3, praising the rally with similar language. Many accounts were recently created and based outside Canada. Investigation concluded it was likely the work of a single amateur actor using low-quality AI-generated content, not a coordinated institutional effort.