The military reprimanded soldiers after they raised concerns about an order to monitor Canadians’ online activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, CBC News has learned.

But the military’s top lawyer later warned of risks associated with this kind of monitoring, and a review found it violated the rules, according to internal documents viewed by CBC News.

In March 2020, the Canadian Armed Forces tasked a team with creating anonymous social media accounts to comb the internet and produce daily reports for military leaders that included the status of COVID-19 in Canada, as well as the political discourse and any misinformation surrounding the pandemic.

Some team members balked at the order, however, saying conducting such activities while working from home on their personal computers and networks could break intelligence-gathering rules. 

“Given the sensitivity around social media and military use I have concerns about this,” a military member wrote in an email to Maj. John Zwicewicz at Canadian Joint Operations Command on March 12, 2020. 

“My concern is that by creating these accounts without following proper procedure would come close to, or cross the line set out in the policy.”

Zwicewicz later said a legal adviser had OK’d the activities, and ordered the group to “cease barrack room lawyering” and get the work done, the documents show. The group was reprimanded more than a week after concerns were first raised about the task, the documents confirm.

Zwicewicz reported directly to Col. Chris Henderson, who directed the team at the time.

A source with direct knowledge of what unfolded told CBC News that within months, some members quit the team or were medically released. The Department of National Defence (DND) told CBC News it could not comment on the matter, citing privacy reasons.

An internal investigation months later showed the team at Canadian Joint Operations Command did in fact violate intelligence-gathering rules by using their personal computers and home networks to collect information about Canadians, CBC News reported last month.

Top soldier shut down monitoring

Now, internal military records and emails viewed by CBC News reveal more details about what unfolded behind the scenes. 

At the time in 2020, the Canadian military was trying to expand its information operations capabilities. According to extensive reporting by the Ottawa Citizen, some senior military leaders viewed the pandemic as a chance to test new propaganda techniques on Canadians, and in the worst case scenario head off any civil disobedience.

But retired general Jonathan Vance, then chief of the defence staff, shut down the campaign in April 2020, conceding it had gone too far and eroded public confidence in the Forces. Nevertheless, some of the activities continued unsanctioned for months afterward.  

Before the order to stop, a team called Joint Operational Effects (JOE) was directed on March 11, 2020, to create anonymous social media accounts to gather information, an internal timeline shows.

Under Henderson’s direction, the team created dozens of reports between March 19 and June 5 that year that involved monitoring what the federal Conservative, NDP and Bloc Québécois parties were saying about the pandemic, internal documents show. 

At least two members of the JOE team emailed their chain of command to complain that creating anonymous accounts without proper authorization and working from home without using a specific network that controls their digital footprint could breach directives governing intelligence activities.

In one email, a soldier asked to go into the office to do the work because they felt it “represented a serious risk” to do it at home. Commanders responded that they should remain at home, said they had a different interpretation of the rules and felt the task did not involve intelligence gathering. 

“Administrative action” was later taken against the team for “deliberately” disregarding an order to create anonymous social media accounts and using their personal accounts instead, an internal review found. 

The documents do not specify the nature of the administrative action taken, but noted that by April 2020, almost everyone on the team had moved to work laptops with virtual private networks.

‘Legal risk to the rights of Canadians citizens’

The military’s top legal officer reviewed the Canadian Joint Operations Command’s plans for information operations and warned it came with risk.

In an internal email viewed by CBC News, then commodore Geneviève Bernatchez, judge advocate general at the time, said that while she appreciated the military’s attempts to modernize its information operation capabilities, doing so in Canada was risky. 

“This issue has a significant legal component, and … could present legal risk to the rights of Canadian citizens, but also legal risks to the institution,” Bernatchez wrote in the spring of 2020. 

While it’s technically legal to conduct information operation activities in Canada, Bernatchez pointed to past examples where other lawful activities were misconstrued, came under scrutiny and ended up placing new constraints on the military. 

According to Bernatchez, the Forces said the activities were aimed at keeping CAF members and Canadians “informed, while identifying and countering disinformation.”

But she warned the plan “raises the possibility of stepping into the intelligence collection sphere.”

“And there is no more sensitive issue at the moment than the collection of intelligence regarding Canadian citizens — by any government entity, but especially by the CAF,” she wrote. 

Unlike during missions involving armed conflict overseas, “the full range of domestic law” would apply in Canada, and “such operations will often directly or indirectly implicate the rights of Canadian citizens,” she wrote

DND told CBC News it does not comment on legal advice, nor would it confirm whether administrative action had been taken against members, citing privacy laws.

DND said it’s committed to maintaining the public’s trust and has made changes to address intelligence-gathering issues. 

The military units involved were given clarification about the laws and rules, including those pertaining to the personal information of Canadians, the department said. 

“Additional guidance and oversight measures were put in place to prevent a recurrence and to strengthen adherence to established rules,” wrote DND spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin in a statement to CBC News.