DisinfoWatch founder and director Marcus Kolga was invited to participate in a high-level panel on foreign interference in Canada’s 2025 federal election at the NATO StratCom Dialogue, held in Riga on June 10–11, 2025.
During the session, Kolga outlined recent foreign information and influence operations targeting Canadian democratic institutions, political parties, and individual candidates. He highlighted coordinated campaigns directed at Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney, as well as the Conservative Party of Canada. Notably, Kolga exposed a Chinese government-led transnational repression effort aimed at undermining Joe Tay, a Hong Kong human rights activist and Conservative candidate running in the Toronto-area riding of Don Valley West. The campaign included online disinformation, intimidation, and attempts to discredit Tay’s candidacy due to his pro-democracy advocacy.
Kolga’s contribution underscored the urgent need for stronger NATO coordination in countering authoritarian interference in democratic elections and protecting exiled dissidents who seek office in free societies.
