China and India wield immense influence over the digital, print and broadcast media that serve Canada’s diaspora communities and Ottawa needs to take action to counter these activities, the public inquiry into foreign interference heard Tuesday.
Canadians journalists from the Chinese and South Asian communities described their experiences in working with media outlets and owners that appear beholden to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The majority of local Chinese media has been influenced, if not outright controlled, by the CCP for years, using a variety of methods,” Victor Ho, the former editor-in-chief of Sing Tao newspaper, told the inquiry headed by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue.
China now more ‘audacious and sophisticated’ in foreign-interference operations, Hogue inquiry told
“In addition to controlling traditional media, the CCP has also exported its digital influence through popular Chinese social-media platforms such as WeChat, TikTok and Weibo. These platforms are used to flood the local Chinese community with CCP narratives,” he testified.
Gurpreet Singh, a journalist from British Columbia, said Indo-Canadian media are diverse and hold a greater variety of opinions. But he said journalists face pressure from the Indian consulate and advertisers when they are too critical of the Modi government, particularly on the Khalistan movement that seeks a separate Sikh state in Punjab.
“You get a lot of pushback from the Indian consulate and Indian diplomats on these issues. They will try to influence you to either remain in the middle of the road or give some coverage to their perspective,” he said.
Mr. Singh said the Indian government tries to punish critical journalists by denying them visas to enter the South Asian country. Those who run afoul of New Delhi also face online abuse and threats, he said.
The Canadian Indian community receives daily coverage from broadcast and online outlets in India that are not regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), the country’s broadcast regulator, Mr. Singh said.
When Prime Minster Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian agents orchestrated last year’s killing of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Mr. Singh said Indian media responded by labelling Mr. Nijjar a terrorist.
Mr. Ho and journalist Ronald Leung, who also testified Tuesday, said Beijing-controlled media have largely taken over the media industry serving the Chinese-Canadian community. Commentators or human-rights advocates are not invited to write or appear on broadcast programs if they are critical of Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, China’s menacing of the self-governed island of Taiwan or its brutal treatment of Muslin Uyghurs, Tibetans or the Falun Gong movement, they said.
“Most people will toe the official China line in any discussion,” Mr. Leung said. “They all repeat the same narrative from the [Beijing] government.”
Mr. Ho said most Chinese publications or media outlets are either owned by people in China or Hong Kong, who are afraid to challenge Beijing’s propaganda masters.
“They control the boss. They control the owners,” Mr. Ho said of the Chinese government. “That is the highest level of control.”
Mr. Ho, a strong critic of Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong, said he cannot return to the city of his birth because he would be arrested by Chinese authorities.
He said the CRTC should include criteria in its licence-renewal process to assess whether media outlets are knowingly spreading propaganda or misinformation from hostile states like China. “Stations proven to serve propaganda tools should have their licences removed,” he said.
“Canada should also follow the lead of the United States to designate Beijing state media outlets as foreign missions to restrict their influence on Canadian soil,” Mr. Ho said. He called for Chinese media and social-media platforms, such as WeChat, to be Canadian-owned and operated.
New regulations are also needed to require social-media companies to detect, identify and deter disinformation on their platforms, Mr. Ho added.
Canada’s spy services agree with Mr. Leung and Mr. Ho that China’s authoritarian government has a firm hold over much of Chinese-language media in Canada.
A 2023 Canadian Security Intelligence Service assessment released at the inquiry Tuesday said CCP-friendly narratives “inundate Chinese-language media in Canada.”
It said these outlets steer away from dissent against China. “Censorship (including self-censorship) is pervasive and alternative media voices are few or marginalized in mainstream Chinese-language media.” This includes traditional media such as newspapers and online media as well as the WeChat messaging application.
The Chinese Communist Party’s “ability to influence Chinese-language media, and therefore shape overseas public opinion, also plays a critical enabling role in its other activities, including transnational repression efforts and attempts to influence electoral outcomes,” the CSIS assessment said.
Scott Shortliffe, executive director of broadcasting at the CRTC, told the inquiry Tuesday that he found the CSIS reports troubling but would not be drawn into whether the broadcasting tribunal would also ban Chinese state-owned media outlets. That would be a decision for the government-appointed CRTC commissioners to make, he said.
He cautioned, however, that the CRTC is reluctant to be “arbiters of what is true and what is propaganda.”
In 2022, the CRTC removed state-controlled Russian television network RT from Canadian airwaves after the invasion of Ukraine. Funded by the Kremlin, the channel has long been described by critics as a propaganda outlet for the Russian government.
The inquiry has already tabled intelligence documents from CSIS that say China and India are deeply engaged in attempting to influence diaspora communities and elect MPs sympathetic to their interests through illicit funding and disinformation campaigns.
Both countries use incentives to target those with status or influence in Canada, such as invitations to important cultural events, expedited visa access and political support, including funding.