Around $10 million of Russian money was reportedly funnelled through shell companies to a media outlet called Tenet Media, and unexpectedly, to a Canadian company based in Hudson, Québec. Both companies are tied to Lauren Chen, a Canadian YouTuber, and her husband, Liam Donovan.
Before her YouTube channel was taken down last week, Chen had over 500,000 subscribers and was a notable figure in the right-wing media world, making appearances on platforms like Rebel Media, Fox News, Blaze TV, and the Daily Wire. From 2021 to 2022, she also contributed regularly to RT.
Tenet Media wasn't just targeting American audiences. They released at least 51 videos this year alone focused on Canada, garnering half a million views.
Many of these videos featured Canadian Lauren Southern, another Tenet Media personality and former Rebel Media correspondent known for her extreme views on race and immigration. Back in 2018, Southern travelled to Russia to collaborate with Alesandr Dugin, a far-right philosopher seen as a key ally of Vladimir Putin.
Southern’s videos for Tenet Media often focused on controversial cultural topics like immigration, crime, gender and sexuality, and issues around "anti-white" sentiment, residential school graves, and the cost of living in Canada. Some also aimed to introduce North American audiences to prominent figures in Europe’s far-right movement.
It comes as no surprise to me that this has unfolded in such a manner. For the past few years, there has been a noticeable uniformity in messaging across North American social media platforms. No matter where one looks, right-wing commentators echo the same rhetoric.
What is particularly concerning, however, is how this messaging has subtly influenced those who present themselves as neutral or unbiased. Many of these so-called centrists have been inundated with skewed opinions and, over time, have come to accept them as a legitimate reflection of reality. The emergence of flawed language models (LLMs) has only exacerbated this issue, creating a dangerous dynamic.
I had long suspected something was amiss, but the connections were not immediately clear. Now, it has become evident who has been pulling the strings behind the scenes. The "Russian bot" narrative may feel overused, but it persists for good reason—much of the disinformation has a clear origin.
Figures with a history of bad faith, such as Ian Miles Cheong, have found their words echoed by people across the spectrum, from Trenton to Toronto. Online forums are filled with diatribes about “free speech” that reference American customs and practices. Most notable to me however is how the Canadian trucker convoy and their apologists adhere strictly to this disinformation narrative. Don't be surprised if the Russian money leads back to these guys as well.
Comments