Bots and Indian TV push fake news about Canada in wake of Hindu temple clashes

A wave of misinformation about Canadian institutions is being amplified by suspected bot accounts on social media and by pro-Modi news outlets in India, raising concerns it could imperil relations between Sikhs and Hindus in Canada. 

CBC News reviewed hundreds of posts on X and dozens of hours of footage streamed on YouTube in the days before and after clashes outside Hindu temples in Surrey, B.C., and Brampton, Ont., in November.

The analysis identified several posts containing misleading and inflammatory comments about the Khalistan movement — which advocates for an independent state for Sikhs — and Sikh Canadians in general that were recirculated by suspicious accounts. 

Some of these claims were then repeated on Indian media outlets sympathetic to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A parallel analysis of pro-Khalistan accounts also revealed numerous unverified claims, but only marginal amplification by suspected bots.

Even before last month's clashes, the media monitoring unit at Global Affairs Canada had reported "Modi-aligned" media outlets in India were pushing "often heated" narratives claiming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is beholden to Khalistani extremists.

The steadfast opposition to the Khalistan movement is an integral part of a Hindu nationalist ideology the Modi government has been pushing both domestically and abroad, said Ward Elcock, a former director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).

"The violence of those demonstrations [in Brampton and Surrey] suggests that that agenda has been pushed in [Canada] a good deal more than any of us realized," Elcock said. 

Sikh separatists have been demonstrating outside consular events at Hindu temples since Trudeau alleged the Indian government was involved in the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Khalistan activist, in Surrey.

These demonstrations, though small, are often held near the temple entrance and can feature provocative slogans, such as "Who supports Nijjar's killers: Hindu temple."

Last month, demonstrations in Surrey and Brampton were met by counter-protesters. A series of confrontations ensued over a 48-hour period, resulting in several arrests and condemnation from politicians across the spectrum.

"Virtually everybody who has been here for 10, 15 or 20 years were of the view that they never had to confront such a situation," said Balwinder Singh, who hosts a Punjabi-language call-in radio show from the basement of his home in Brampton. 

"They never thought …  they would feel unsafe in Canada."

In the days following the demonstrations, social media was awash in unverified claims about retaliatory violence, government infiltration and police corruption.