#TrudeauMustGo, or so the hashtag said, as it trended on Twitter
some weeks ago. Was this a surge in public discontent? A poor omen
for the Prime Minister? None of the above – the
"trend" found its fuel in assorted "fake" accounts, masquerading as
members of the public. It snowballed as legitimate accounts joined
in.
The Communications Security Establishment
("CSE") and the Canadian Security
Intelligence Service ("CSIS") have already found foreign actors attempting to
influence Canada's upcoming federal election. As the Government
of Canada's
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has predicted, foreign cyber interference ahead of
and during the campaign is "very likely".
This is no surprise. Foreign meddling has only become more
prevalent since Donald J. Trump won the White House, with Russian help, in 2016. The internet has
become a powerful means by which state actors can seek to further
their interests around the world; cyber space offers fertile ground
for our
