G7 Rapid Response Mechanism

"Democracy and the rules-based international order are increasingly being challenged by authoritarianism and the defiance of international norms. In particular, foreign actors seek to undermine our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, our sovereignty and our security. These malicious, multi-faceted and ever-evolving tactics constitute a serious strategic threat which we commit to confront together, working with other governments that share our democratic values."

— Charlevoix Commitment on Defending Democracy from Foreign Threats. G7. June 9, 2018

The "Charlevoix Commitment on Defending Democracy from Foreign Threats" was one of eight declarations (statements of commitment) issued by the G7 leaders on June 9, 2018, during their summit at the Manoir Richelieu in Charlevoix, in the La Malbaie, Quebec.[1] Charlevoix Commitment states that "foreign actors seek to undermine our democratic societies and institutions, our electoral processes, our sovereignty and our security. These malicious, multi-faceted and ever-evolving tactics constitute a serious strategic threat which we commit to confront together, working together with other governments that share our democratic values." The Charlevoix Summit resolved to "establish a G7 Rapid Response Mechanism to strengthen our coordination to identify and respond to diverse and evolving threats to our democracies, including through sharing information and analysis, and identifying opportunities for coordinated response."[1]

The Charlevoix Summit was the 44th G7 summit[9] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced five themes for Canada's G7 presidency which began in January 2018.[10][11][8]

In January 2019, Policy Options said that, "the nascent Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) initiated in 2018 under Canada's G7 presidency to defend against foreign threats holds promise and could offer a valuable model of cooperation for future efforts to defend democracy and the ideas that underlie it." The RRM initiative seeks to strengthen the leading democracies' “coordination to identify and respond to diverse and evolving threats…including through sharing information and analysis, and identifying opportunities for a coordinated response."[4]

Global Affairs Canada's (GAC) Rapid Response Mechanism Canada (RRM Canada) comprehensive report on the 2019 European Parliament election analyzed open data "related to foreign interference during and leading up to the 2019 European Union Parliamentary Elections, May 23–26, 2019".[12] RRM Canada did not find "significant evidence of state-based foreign interference, or any large-scale, organized and coordinated efforts by non-state actors".[12] They did find find that "national or international non-state actors" used tactics based on those used by the Russian sponsored Internet Research Agency (IRA) in previous elections, "such as the 2016 U.S. Elections".[12] For example, blogs, webpages, and social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Reddit "were used to spread divisive and false information to damage and negatively impact social cohesion and trust in democratic processes and institutions" in coordinated networks of Facebook groups.[12]

A May 2019 report by RRM Canada, which was published online on September 6, 2019 analyzed open source data including Twitter's platform in the period before the 2019 Alberta general election, which was held on April 16, 2019.[5] The analysis was intended to "identify any emerging tactics in foreign interference and draw lessons learned for the Canadian general elections scheduled to take place in October 2019."[5] While there was no foreign activity detected, the data revealed ""suspicious account creation pattern that is indicative of troll or bot activity".[5][13]

They found "automated inauthentic behaviour and trolling activities" but concluded that they were "very likely domestic in nature".[5] The data showed "suspicious account creation pattern that is indicative of troll or bot activity", and "spikes in account creation" which suggested the "presence of accounts developed for a specific purpose."[5] The accounts were very likely domestic and were "mainly comprised of supporters of the United Conservative Party (UCP)." There was also a second small community with suspicious account creation pattern that were identified as supporters of the national People's Party of Canada.[5][13] The report concluded that there was "no evidence supporting a broad, coordinated campaign to influence the Alberta election."[5]

The report noted that "domestic actors" were "emulating" "tactics used by foreign actors, within the context of provincial elections and that this "behaviour will make it increasingly difficult to distinguish national from foreign interference efforts" in the upcoming 2019 Canadian federal election on October 21, 2019.[12]

RRM Canada identified a shift from information warfare to narrative competition, in which narratives about divisive issues such as "immigration, Muslims in Europe, climate change and liberal vs conservative values" are disseminated and amplified across "national borders and global political contexts to engage pan-European, regional and international communities."[12] National or international non-state actors would strategically amplify inauthentic, divisive and inflammatory content on topics such as "immigration/migration, anti-religious sentiment (Muslim and Jewish), nationalist identity, women’s health, gender-based harassment and climate change".[12]

In the European Union, RMM data analysis showed that authentic information was "de-contextualized", "manipulated" and "distorted", then used by "questionable" writers on "untrustworthy" sites to "seed conversations", which were then "framed using a divisive and inflammatory narrative." These would reference the original authentic source. In a "coordinated fashion" the information would be "amplified" with the most "susceptible communities" targeted. It would be translated into a number of different languages. The RMM Canada report said that a "version of this tactic has been observed as being used by Kremlin-linked actors and is a known tactic of covert, malicious foreign actors."[12]