Convoy Finance: Foreign Funding and Influence
Convoy finance part 3
Welcome to part 3 of the convoy finance series. While I initially envisioned this series to be limited in scope, it’s shaping up to be a trilogy in five or more parts. The story just keeps getting more interesting! Today I’m looking at the question of foreign funding and influence on the crowdfunding campaigns and the protest movement itself. What we know so far is that there is definitely foreign influence on this campaign, that there have been foreign donors to the crowdfunding efforts, and that this style of protest has spread globally. Our list of “unknowns” is a bit longer, however. Let’s get into it.
Need a convoy finance primer? Here’s the series so far:
Foreign Influence
There is no doubt that there has been a significant amount of foreign influence on the convoy protests in Ottawa and beyond. The vast majority of the overt influence has come from US influencers, Canadians abroad, and politicians, including the former President himself. That influence has driven attention to the convoy, and has likely helped spark copy-cat protests in other countries and cities around the world.
Other research has also identified a foreign and inorganic component to the amplification of the social media pages. For instance, some of the Facebook pages relating to the convoy were created using a stolen account, while some of the content has been created by content farms in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and other locations. However, to date there has been no indication as to who has been trying to amplify the protest, or why.
