Canada

Archived version

When far-right YouTuber Lauren Southern was summoned to tell MPs about her part in an alleged Russian disinformation operation last month, she told them it was no big deal.

“If you were worried about this alleged Russian money unduly influencing Canadian issues — good news, didn’t happen,” she told the standing committee on public safety and national security, which includes Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Bloc Québécois MPs.

The Russians’ efforts to use Tenet Media as a secret propaganda tool were a failure, Southern told MPs. Few people watched the videos, she said, expert assessments of the project’s impact were inflated and the committee’s investigation was a waste of taxpayer dollars.

But researchers who reviewed Tenet Media and their related activities have a very different assessment of their impact on Canadian politics.

Southern’s testimony on Nov. 21 was part of the committee’s larger investigation into Russia’s efforts to influence politics in Canada. The hearings started in September in response to a U.S. indictment that alleged two employees of Russia Today, a Russian state media channel that aims to reach western audiences, had funnelled $10 million to a media channel called Tenet Media. Tenet featured YouTube, TikTok and other social media content made by six high-profile right-wing commentators.

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