Russian state media broadcaster RT was set up in 2005 to publish and promote Russian government views and narratives on global issues. Since then, it has manipulated and undermined debate and civil discourse on important issues, serving as a primary tool of the Kremlin’s cognitive warfare effort against the community of western democracies to attack divisive issues and polarize societies.
The confusion, fear and anger caused by the COVID pandemic have been exploited by the Kremlin and other foreign actors, to undermine democracies around the world by promoting conspiracy theories and legitimizing anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown movements under the pretext of defending freedom. These movements have been growing around the world, including in Canada, where regular anti-vaccination/lockdown protests have occurred in most major cities. RT has further provoked these movements through a constant stream of propaganda designed to legitimize and amplify them, often with terrifying headlines intended to inspire anger and fear.
The recent protests and occupations that have paralyzed US-Canadian border crossings, the nation’s capital, and other cities have, in part, been fuelled by a sustained information operation targeting vaccines, lockdowns and vaccine mandates undertaken by Russian state propagandists and closely aligned proxy platforms in Canada. Between late January and early February, RT has posted several stories per day about the trucker occupation protests – in English, French and other languages to further polarize Canadians on this issue.
RT February 11 Segment Calls for Removal of Canadian “Political Structure”
A report about the trucker protest occupation broadcast by RT on February 11, 2022 downplayed public concerns about the protests, suggesting that the protestors are defending democratic freedoms through civil disobedience. The Russian state media employee reporting on the situation characterized the occupation as a “dance party” and “winter carnival.”
Screenshot of RT broadcast.
The same report provides a platform for someone identified as a “protest leader” named Kelly Anne Wolfe, who makes several unfounded and dangerous claims about the protests, the participants, and its aims.
Wolfe claims that “the police coming on our side is happening in droves” and that there are thousands of videos online created by police officers calling for the resignation of Ottawa’s chief of police. Videos of people falsely identified as police officers have indeed been posted to social media in which they demand the resignation of Ottawa’s Police Chief. Aside from disinformation, there is absolutely no evidence of police engaging in such insubordination. Such claims threaten to erode public trust in our law enforcement agencies and the officials who lead them. Such an outcome would fulfill the Russian government objective of weakening a fundamental pillar of Canada’s democracy.
She later states that a coalition of anti-vaccination groups “want the absolute removal of the current political structure in this country,” demonstrating that anti-vaccination mandates and the “freedom” of Canadians are being used as a pretext to destabilize Canada’s democracy.
The RT segment claims that the government has placed “paid provocateurs…to cause disruption” despite the very well reported fact that the occupiers are causing disruptions leading to a growing crisis. This false claim seeks to erode public trust in the government and law enforcement.
It’s suggested during the interview that the government is conspiring to “script” and control the Canadian media through a 2019 bailout, followed by a non sequitur regarding Adolf Hitler. Such narratives are aimed at eroding public trust in media.
Towards the end of the segment, Wolfe claims that Justin Trudeau was involved “in the creation of a bioweapon at the University of BC” and that the Canadian Prime Minister has been “contracted into some sort of arrangement… and we have people looking into it.” Such conspiracy theories suggest the Prime Minister is under the control of a third party and are intended to erode public trust in government.
Wolfe claims that she and her organization “The Line Canada.com” represent “people not politics” while concluding with a demand for a “complete political restructuring in Canada.”
Screenshot of a Tweet from an organization named The Line Canada promoting the RT segment.
It appears that the Russian government has provided a platform for this person in efforts to legitimize their demands to overturn the government and provoke a violent incident, not unlike that which happened in Washington, DC. on January 6, 2021.
During the segment, images of police arresting senior citizens were featured without any indication of where or when these images were recorded – creating the false impression that the police are engaging in mass action and treating protestors roughly.
The segment concludes with another conspiracy theory about a premeditated mass “national oppression” of “access to information to Canadian citizens” and suggests that Canadian citizens “freeze their own funds” without clarifying what goal that might achieve.
In a video posted to Instagram in June 2021, Wolfe calls on the Canadian Armed Forces to take control of the government of Canada in what can only be presumed to be an armed coup.
Canadian Elected Official Endorses RT Exposing Followers to Unfiltered Cognitive Warfare
RT has broadcast several stories about the trucker occupation protest and provided an international platform for a Canadian elected official, Ontario MPP Randy Hillier, who is an outspoken leader of the Canadian anti-vaccination and anti-vaccine mandate movement. Hillier told the Russian broadcaster that “the government’s negative portrayals of the protest were intended to provide cover for an effective ‘coup d’etat against our constitution.’” Hillier later endorsed the Russian state media broadcaster in a tweet, claiming that “Russia news provides a platform for objective journalism where Canadian “MSM [mainstream media] creates fabrications.” Such dangerously irresponsible endorsements expose Mr. Hillier’s followers to foreign cognitive warfare by lulling and supressing any instinct they may have to consume information from these outlets with a critical eye.
Ontario MPP, Randy Hillier interviewed on RT about Trucker Occupation.
Screenshot of a Tweet from Randy Hillier endorsing “Russia news”.
RT Exploits Pandemic in Europe, Canada and beyond
Since March 2020, the EU and other western disinformation and intelligence experts have warned that the Russian government would exploit the pandemic “to worsen the impact of the coronavirus, generate panic and sow distrust.” Russian state media has aggressively published conspiracy theories and anti-lockdown/anti-vaccination narratives over the past 24 months, which are aimed at legitimizing and growing movements that use these narratives to engage in anti-government protests.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaking at anti-vaccination rally in Berlin, 2020. Screenshot of RT broadcast of the event.
In August 2020, large anti-vaccination protests in Berlin were positively covered by RT. According to reports, many of the protestors who marched on the Bundestag were carrying far-right and Nazi symbols. A speech given at the protests by American anti-vaccination leader, Robert F. Kennedy was broadcast and promoted by RT and shared widely among anti-vaccination conspiracy groups online. In late 2021, YouTube blocked RT’s German channel for repeatedly violating its COVID misinformation policies. In January 2022, German government regulators revoked RT’s licence, banning it from German airwaves. In the United States, RT has been required to register as a foreign agent. In the United States, RT was required to register as a “foreign agent.” The United Kingdom is considering banning RT for spreading false information, while Latvia and Lithuanian have both banned it, and all three Baltic States have imposed economic sanctions on Russian state broadcasters.
RT Exploits Canadian Cable and Satellite Systems
According to a 2017 Globe and Mail report, 7 million Canadian households are exposed to Russian government disinformation broadcast on RT through Canadian cable and satellite providers. Unlike other speciality channels that generate revenue from cable and satellite providers through subscribers, RT pays Canadian providers to carry their broadcasts.
During the peak of the COVID pandemic, while RT was promoting vaccine hesitancy and anti-lockdown movements, Canada’s telecommunications regulator, CRTC, inexplicably granted a licence in August 2020 for RT to broadcast in French, in addition to its existing English language service.
Russian language state media news, RTR Planeta, is also available on Canadian cable and satellite networks. Its broadcasts have promoted hate towards LGBTQ communities. In a 2013 broadcast, popular news anchor Dmitry Kiselyov said that the hearts of gay people should be burned. In 2019, a CBC report exposed how programs on that Russian state media channel are used to promote hate towards Canada’s Ukrainian community and elected Canadian officials of Ukrainian heritage.
RT generates revenue from Canadian viewers on YouTube through YouTube advertising. It should be noted that, in this way, YouTube’s parent company Google directly benefits from Russian disinformation broadcast on RT.
Canada’s Intelligence Community Warnings
The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliament (NSICOP) has repeatedly and explicitly warned about the threat of Russian, Chinese and Iranian information warfare and influence operations against Canada’s democracy, media and ethnic communities.
The 2019 report states that, “The Russian Federation engages in foreign interference activities across Canada’s political system with the objective of influencing government decision-making and swaying public opinion.” Mainstream and ethnic media are manipulated by Russian and Chinese state actors. The report concludes that:
The Committee believes there is ample evidence that Canada is the target of significant and sustained foreign interference activities. The PRC, the Russian Federation, other states. The Committee believes that these states target Canada for a variety of reasons, but all seek to exploit the openness of our society and penetrate our fundamental institutions to meet their objectives. They target ethnocultural communities, seek to corrupt the political process, manipulate the media, and attempt to curate debate on postsecondary campuses. Each of these activities poses a significant risk to the rights and freedoms of Canadians and to the country’s sovereignty: they are a clear threat to the security of Canada.
Some of Canada’s allies are working towards developing a robust defence against foreign cognitive warfare – including Sweden, which recently announced a new government agency with 45 permanent staff members, to defend its democracy against foreign psychological warfare. Despite ongoing warnings, Canada’s response has been limited to election periods and tackling “online harms” without a specific focus on defending against foreign information and influence operations.
