CSIS warned COVID-19 would spark wave of conspiracy theories and extremism, documents reveal

Canada’s spy network warned Western governments to brace themselves for radical and sometimes violent attacks as the pandemic began.

Such warnings were outlined in documents prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and stamped “TOP SECRET,” “Confidential” and “SECRET/ CANADIAN EYES ONLY.”

Heavily redacted copies of the reports from mid-2020 were obtained by the Toronto Star under the Access to Information Act.

One of the reports was prepared for an international video teleconference on June 2, 2020.

“The video teleconference is taking place following a suggestion made by the United Kingdom to have a … discussion focused on COVID-19,” the report states. “The call will allow participants to share information on national security matters affected by the pandemic and to identify further opportunities to collaborate and learn from one another in the immediate and longer term.”

The COVID-19 pandemic “led to a proliferation of hateful messages and conspiracy theories online,” it states.

In particular, the reports note that conspiracy theorists had linked efforts to fight the COVID-19 virus and a push for 5G wireless technology, the fifth generation of wireless communications technologies that requires the construction of special sensors and receivers.

“Recent surveys suggest that a not insignificant minority of Canadians believe there is a connection between 5G technology and the COVID-19 pandemic,” one CSIS report states.

“There have been a handful of attacks on communications towers in Canada during the past month, but the motivation remains unknown,” the May 2020 report states. “Arson and sabotage attacks on 5G infrastructure have also spread across the U.K. and Europe over the past several months.”

An April 27, 2020, CSIS report marked “SECRET,” notes that 5G conspiracy theories became popular at the pandemic’s onset.

The included conspiracy theories that governments and law enforcement planned to “weaponize” 5G technology to push toward the creation of a police state.

Such conspiracy theories can have tragic real-life consequences, the report notes.

“Most concerning was an attack on a tower supplying voice and data traffic to a Birmingham field hospital treating COVID-19 patients,” a CSIS report notes.

Extreme elements of “the anti-government milieu” regularly adopt conspiracy theories claiming government plots involving a reduction of gun rights, the implementation of a police state, or blind adherence to international bodies such as the UN or World Health Organization, leading to “the New World Order,” the report states. “Statements by the government or scientific experts claiming that 5G technology is safe or is unrelated to COVID-19, for example, are met with skepticism if not outright rejection.”

In briefing notes prepared for Minster of Public Safety Bill Blair, strategic objectives include countering “violent extremism, terrorism and hate.”

“Canada is deeply concerned that threat actors are leveraging the COVID-19 pandemic to further their geopolitical aims and erode support for the values of democracy and human rights that underpin our society,” the briefing note states.

“In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is facing an ‘infodemic’ — an overabundance of information, some accurate, some not — that can make it hard to identify reliable information.”

It continues: “Violent extremists and terrorists are calling for violence, including physical attacks, against certain groups, including the Asian and Jewish communities.”

One of the reports from CSIS is marked “SECRET/ CANADIAN EYES ONLY,” and dated Sept. 22, 2020.

It discusses the real-world implications of the conspiracy theorists in the online group QAnon.

“At its core, the narrative alleges that U.S. President Donald J. Trump is engaged in a battle against a global elite … which aims to keep the people of the world poor, ignorant and enslaved. Adherents believe world governments are being controlled by a shadowy cabal of pedophiles. In this narrative, political opponents are enemies of humanity.”

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