No, Canada’s navy didn’t sink 312 Chinese language ships

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A collection of pretend movies concerning the Canadian navy destroying greater than 300 Chinese language ships in addition to attacking Houthi rebels within the Crimson Sea are popping up on social media.

Greater than 15 movies have been posted not too long ago on YouTube supposedly portraying Royal Canadian Navy navy actions within the South China Sea and the Center East.

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In a single video phase, it’s claimed the Royal Canadian Navy and the U.S. Navy not too long ago sank 312 Chinese language vessels in a dispute over unlawful fishing.

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One other video claims to point out the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver “sink dozens of insurgent ships” within the Crimson Sea as its crew battles Houthi militants.

The movies are laughable to anybody who has greater than a cursory information of present world occasions or the Canadian navy, says Martin Shadwick, who teaches defence research at York College in Toronto.

“I believe we’d hear from Beijing if we had sunk 300 or so Chinese language ships,” Shadwick stated. “These movies are past ridiculous.”

The Royal Canadian Navy is conscious of the movies, which use outdated imagery from previous Canadian and U.S. navy workout routines.

“In collaboration with our CAF colleagues, the RCN has been monitoring disinformation content material on-line this week about our ships working in particular areas of the world,” Jennifer St. Germain, a navy public-affairs advisor, famous in an e mail. “The RCN and CAF have mechanisms in place to make sure we’re conscious of disinformation about our operations.”

There aren’t any Canadian ships at present within the South China Sea or the Crimson Sea.

HMCS Vancouver is in port at Esquimalt, B.C., Germain added.

One of many movies concerning the so-called Canadian assault on Houthi rebels has been considered 527,000 instances.

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Related movies about Canada sinking a whole bunch of Chinese language vessels began showing about three months in the past, however extra have been added to YouTube not too long ago. The pretend movies about Canadian naval assaults on Houthi rebels are simply days outdated.

An official with YouTube advised this newspaper the social-media platform was wanting into the movies.

It’s unclear who’s behind posting the movies and for what motive.

Some commentators on YouTube thanked Canada for combating again towards Houthi rebels, whereas others identified the movies had been pretend.

Some commentators on the video that falsely claims the destruction of Chinese language ships questioned why YouTube administration allowed such pretend materials to be loaded onto the location.

Shadwick stated he didn’t suppose that the movies had been disinformation from Chinese language or Russian sources as they had been clearly unsophisticated and simply debunked.

Issues about Russian and Chinese language disinformation have reached a fever pitch in western nations lately, with varied militaries and spy businesses sounding the alarm over such actions. Western militaries and governments have additionally used claims of Russian disinformation in makes an attempt to undercut media studies they don’t like.

David Pugliese is an award-winning journalist protecting Canadian Forces and navy points in Canada. To assist his work, together with unique content material for subscribers solely, enroll right here: ottawacitizen.com/subscribe

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