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RCMP to conduct undercover surveillance on the Internet in response to growing IMVE threats. The RCMP is unveiling a controversial new plan to combat ideologically motivated violent extremism
The RCMP is unveiling a controversial new plan to combat ideologically motivated violent extremism or IMVE on the Internet. The RCMP plans to create sham online profiles to surveil extremist activity — a step experts see as belated in the face of rising threats, according to an internal strategy document obtained under access to information law. But some civil liberties advocates say there is a risk of overreach that could compromise the rights of Canadians.
The new method, which the RCMP intends to incorporate according to a proposal dated April 2024, describes ways in which the RCMP intends to expand its ability to follow these [IMVE]. The memo stresses that law enforcement agencies should do more than simply monitor extremist activity on the internet, and urged them to take more action via undercover profiles. According to RCMP officials, this change is necessary to respond to the increasingly sophisticated nature of extremist networks that can operate without any formal organization and across various internet platforms.
This strategy is crucial, says Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University. “Western nations are well ahead of Canada in further developing counter-IMVE strategies. It is this absence of an undercover digital presence by Canada that has made us susceptible.”
While there is support from experts in violent extremism for the idea of deploying members of the RCMP undercover online, civil liberties advocates are expressing alarm over the plan. Critics worry the anonymity of such phony accounts tracking Canadians might infringe something enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. These worries have been fuelled by previous high-profile cases of the RCMP monitoring Black Lives Matter and Idle No More activists.
Tim McSorley, national coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, expressed, “The RCMP’s online operations have previously raised privacy concerns, and it’s essential that any new measures come with strong oversight to protect civil liberties.” McSorley called for clearer guidelines and judicial oversight to prevent potential misuse of the program.
The internal document acknowledges these issues, indicating that the RCMP aims to address the privacy and ethical dimensions by ensuring that all online operations are monitored and reviewed rigorously. However, questions remain about how well these standards can be enforced, particularly in an undercover digital environment.
Experts have found that where there has been a lot of extremist activity in Canada, it tends to mirror the political dynamics occurring in the U.S., which has been known to have spikes in extremism in some places following especially intense elections. As another election year approaches south of the border, fears are being raised that the nature of extremist messaging in Canada will follow suit.
Garth Davies, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University gave a warning about a possible spillover effect, saying, “The U.S. election will impact Canada, and that likely means more IMVE threats here as well. It sends a message to Canadian security services that they should increase their monitoring abilities.” Perry also observed a “kind of atomization of extremist movements” in which individuals may be radicalized by online ideologies but not officially join groups, making the RCMP’s job more complex.
A key part of the RCMP strategy is increasing in-house intelligence capacity. The RCMP now depends heavily on domestic and international partners for intelligence, but the document says such information is typically “thin” with insufficient information to proceed with full investigative activity. RCMP thinks a full-on online intelligence program would bring it the capacity to monitor threats before something happens, rather than responding to a few leads based on non-Canadian information that its allies share.
Building these capabilities to speed will require resources, from IT hardware to online sock puppets to more staff to run surveillance ops. According to the document, the RCMP wants to emphasize “legend-building and backstopping,” meaning generating convincing online personas that can engage extremists without raising any alarms.
The RCMP is planning an undercover online initiative that mirrors the increasing demand on Canadian security within the online era of extremism. Civil liberties activists have made some important criticisms regarding privacy and abuse potential, but most security experts contend that the RCMP needs to take a more aggressive stance in response to the changing face of the Canadian threat landscape.
As the program moves forward, the balance between national security and individual privacy will remain a point of contention. The RCMP’s efforts to strengthen its undercover online capacity could be instrumental in preventing extremist violence, yet only if executed with transparency and stringent oversight.
