Here is another article about how there is so much deception online.
Jun. 8, 2026 "Facebook is paying people overseas promoting Alberta separatism": Today I found this article by on CBC:
You might think, based on the volume of her Facebook posts, that Nieta Aqila is an Albertan who supports separation.
"I signed the Alberta independence petition" because "Canada is not a great country anymore," an account in her name wrote in a popular Facebook group called Alberta Independence that promotes the movement and has more than 100,000 members.
In another post, Aqila said she was harassed and had rocks thrown at her as she canvassed for petition signatures.
The account's posts have generated thousands of reactions, comments and shares in recent months as the issue heated up.
When contacted by CBC, one Albertan whose content was stolen said they felt "absolutely violated."
Nieta Aqila even posted about
income she generates from Meta's monetization program,
which rewards creators for engagement
and solicits subscribers on her personal page.
Nieta Aqila is among 14 overseas accounts CBC identified
in four popular Alberta independence Facebook groups.
The accounts have posted politically divisive content about
Alberta separatism,
Western annexation
and other hot-button Canadian topics
within the past two months.
Many of them — which Facebook indicates are run from
Indonesia,
Pakistan,
India,
the U.S.
and Sri Lanka
— are top contributors to Alberta-focused pages
and have cumulatively garnered tens of thousands of
reactions
and comments
in posts and cross-posts across more than a dozen Facebook groups.
Two users posted images of the money they make from Facebook.
Multiple experts told CBC that the findings show how
Facebook's incentives for creators
can harm public discourse
around important topics.
"This may not always be classic foreign interference in the state-backed sense.
Sometimes it's much more banal.
It's in some ways more depressing,"
said Matt Navarra, a social media consultant in the U.K. whose clients have included Meta and Google.
"People sitting thousands of miles away working out that Canadian outrage is a profitable niche.
I think they may not actually care about Canadian politics at all."
While it's difficult to determine the level of real-world influence these posts have,
they elicited strong reactions from some users.
"Lock and load Albertans!"
wrote one commenter on an image with the text
"Mark Carney can't block Alberta Independence."
'I feel absolutely violated'
As Alberta debates holding a referendum on whether the province should leave Canada, passion from real Albertans has been evident online — but so has a cottage industry built around exploiting the topic.
For example, a CBC visual investigation recently found that
several YouTube channels with tens of millions of views that promoted U.S. annexation of Alberta were created by
people living in the Netherlands to generate income from the platform.
Experts say it appears that a similar economic model,
where monetization incentivizes content that is engaging rather than
accurate
or accountable,
has taken off on Facebook
despite rules banning deceptive content.
"There are two beneficiaries of this.
One is the grifters who are monetizing.
They are engaged in this activity because it is financially profitable for them,"
said Aengus Bridgman, director of the Media Ecosystem Observatory at McGill University in Montreal.
"The other is the platform itself … the ad revenue monetization around the attention that they're getting."
Facebook groups focused on Albertan separatism are very active,
with hundreds of posts a day spread across the groups;
in this mix are overseas content creators.
In some cases, the accounts employ deception to appear Canadian.
In one post, Nieta Aqila — who has racked up more than 2,000 reactions in the Alberta Independence group — claimed to have met people who were canvassing for independence in Calgary and expressed support.
Not only did CBC find an identical post from a real Albertan made the day before,
but photos posted by the Nieta Aqila account also reveal that she was in Indonesia that week
— in fact, her profile reveals that she lives in the city of Palembang.
CBC discovered that the person behind the account has multiple profiles under different names,
including one that primarily advertises homemade noodles for sale.
In one post, she claimed to have been harassed, saying she had rocks thrown at her while canvassing for the independence movement.
"You are a Alberta Patriot. Thank you for your service," one user commented.
Using Google reverse image search, CBC found the post was stolen from Edmonton resident Brock Ireland.
"I feel absolutely violated.
If people are impersonating other people, that is wrong altogether,"
Ireland said when CBC informed him his post was copied.
"It really hurts to know that there's scammers out there that want to betray other people.
[Facebook] has to do better."
One screenshot of Nieta Aqila's Meta monetization dashboard, which she posted, showed she made roughly $14 US in a month when she was active in Alberta Facebook groups.
"It's low-cost content production," said Renee DiResta, an associate research professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
"It is something that allows them to earn some extra money, which really makes a difference in some parts of the world."
The accounts did not respond to CBC's multiple requests for comment.
Another Facebook account with the username Riri Seyer, which Facebook labelled as being run in Pakistan, posts content that is strongly pro-separatism and pro-federal government.
"Foreign interference — or Albertans speaking for themselves?"
they wrote in a post in the Alberta Separatism Facebook group.
"At the end of the day, Alberta's future should be decided by Albertans."
"That is a thing that is unfortunately a major issue with social media today," said DiResta.
"What Meta is doing is it is incentivizing [users] to find issues that people believe in deeply,
that people feel deeply aggrieved about,
and to manipulate those audiences for profit.
Meta has a responsibility to enforce its authenticity and monetization rules."
'Canadians are getting tricked'
An administrator for Alberta Independence who goes by the online pseudonym "Mister Alberta" told CBC that
"95 per cent of accounts list Canada as their country of origin"
but that they "take the issue seriously and will continue monitoring and removing suspicious activity where identified."
McGill's Media Ecosystem Observatory looked at these groups and the top posters for inauthentic activity.
A preliminary analysis suggested inauthentic activity about separatism has tripled in recent months — but still only represented a fraction of the content in these groups.
"Canadians are getting tricked," said Bridgman.
"The big takeaway is these platforms continue to not do enough to ensure that there is a fully authentic conversation."
Uncovering an organized network
CBC uncovered several more accounts with links to Pakistan, including a number of pages that appear to be part of a co-ordinated network.
The Legacy Archives, with close to 9,000 followers, says on its profile it's dedicated to history and philosophy. Yet it frequently posts on Alberta separatist pages, often using highly emotional language.
"Seperation is in result of Liberals/NDP lying and attacking Western Canada. Thinking western Canada needs to be subservient to them," the Legacy Archives wrote on the Alberta Separatist Movement page.
According to Facebook's page transparency feature, the Legacy Archives is managed from Pakistan and the U.S., along with several other accounts that frequently post in separatist groups and appear linked.
CBC was able to link the Legacy Archives, Trend Top and History Addicted — which were also from Pakistan, with one page owner listed as being from the U.S. — because they are admins of a small Facebook group called Rise of Alberta.
It's not clear who runs the pages.
The Legacy Archives said in Facebook messages that they live in Canada, not Pakistan, but did not reveal their identity.
"I made this page for history but no i think we need our rights first," the user wrote.
When asked why four other Pakistan-run accounts linked to the page were posting in Alberta separatist groups,
the Legacy Archives did not respond
and blocked the CBC journalist.
Meta, in an email statement,
said it had removed content that violated its "policies on inauthentic behaviour and disabled the accounts behind them."
The Legacy Archives, Trend Top and History Addicted are no longer online, in addition to Riri Seyer and five other accounts.
Nieta Aqila's Facebook account is still active. However, her posts have been removed from the Alberta Independence group.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/facebook-overseas-alberta-separtism-9.7223966
Jun. 15 2026 "Pensions, passports and misinformation: What each side says the other gets wrong about Alberta independence": Today I found this article by · on CBC:
Would Alberta seniors lose their Canadian pensions if the province separates?
Would Albertans lose their Canadian passports?
Even these basic questions are disputed in Alberta right now as both sides gear up for a referendum on the question of independence this October.
Separatist supporter Wendy Fitzpatrick said
pensions were the biggest point of concern she heard from older Albertans while gathering signatures,
and she believes the pro-Canada side is spreading misinformation on that.
“Old people in general are misinformed about the CPP and the old age pension,” said Fitzpatrick.
“Seniors think they’re going to lose it if we separate,
but we can’t lose something we’ve already paid into.
They can’t take that away from them.”
In Alberta, both sides of the separatism debate have accused the other of peddling misinformation,
and some questions simply don’t have clear answers yet since the path to dividing a 158-year-old country would naturally be complex.
CBC News set up listening stations at separatist and pro-Canada events to better understand what factual points the two sides disagree on.
At the federalist event,
people said the pro-independence side is wrong about the economic benefit separatism could bring.
We’re using what we heard at both events to guide further reporting leading up to the October referendum.
Fitzpatrick was at a Let’s Talk Alberta event just outside Brooks,
one of dozens of perogy dinners the pro-independence group has been organizing in community halls across Alberta.
In this case, the kitchen was too small, so pizza filled the tables instead.
CBC News asked attendees:
What’s the biggest thing the rest of Alberta gets wrong about separatism?
Fitzpatrick wasn’t the only one to flag pensions as a source of disagreement.
Seniors in Alberta have already earned their pensions;
they have a right to them,
event attendees said.
Canadians can even get their old age security cheques while living overseas if they lived in Canada for at least 20 years after turning 18.
As for a Canadian passport,
several people at the event said that Canada doesn’t force anyone to give up a Canadian passport when they become a citizen of another country today,
so why would a person gaining an Alberta passport be different?
CBC News doesn’t have answers on each of these points yet, but we’re looking into it.
Some questions might not be settled unless Albertans vote for separation in a future referendum that actually triggers negotiations with Canada and the other provinces.
Pro-Canada supporters say benefits of independence are a myth
To hear from pro-Canada supporters, CBC News set up at the Forever Canadian lawn sign giveaway at the Renfrew Community Association in Calgary. The lineup to get lawn signs stretched out into the rain.
What do they believe the separatists are getting wrong?
The most common response was that independence will lead to a stronger economy and better quality of life.
The pro-Canada crowd at the event didn't believe
an independent Alberta can reduce taxes
or promote oil and gas the way separatists claim,
not when Alberta would be landlocked
and will face huge startup costs to establish itself as an independent country.
“Separating will do more harm for oil and gas.
No way there will be a pipeline if Alberta is separate,”
wrote one pro-Canada supporter on the CBC News comment board.
“Too many people have not done their research on what separatism will cost
financially
and emotionally,”
wrote another.
“Stay to be proud that we fixed any problems,”
wrote Chantelle Valliere, who brought her two children to the event.
Tami Savage was a volunteer at the event and previously helped collect signatures. It’s her first time being involved with a political campaign.
“There's a lot of talk on the separatist side about how we get the short end of the stick all the time,
but there's a lot of information that isn't taken into account,”
she said.
“We get a lot of funds for health care.
I think we get a lot of funds for education.
I think we have a lot of good leadership skills coming from Ottawa.”
It’s also a myth that support for separatism is widespread,
said Layne Sebastian, an electronics technician whose family has lived in Alberta for generations.
“It just boggles my mind that we're allowing a small percentage of people to have that big of an effect on a province.
Statistically, a good 70 per cent of us don't want to separate,
and that even a good half of the people who actually claimed to be on the side of the separatist don't actually want to separate
— they just want to get [a better deal federally].”
Real draw for separation is self-determination: organizer
Back at the separatist event, organizer Chris Scott said the biggest myth is that
separatists are primarily focused on the economic benefits of independence.
For many of them, that’s not it, he said.
It’s about self-determination — about deciding your own course as a people.
On the CBC News comment board, another supporter wrote that it’s a myth that
an independent Alberta would not have access to ports;
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea says
landlocked countries can’t be blocked or taxed for access.
Max Diaz, who moved to Canada from Chile, said the biggest myth is that
separatists are racist.
Many in the independence movement are immigrants themselves who don’t like the way Canada has been changing since they arrived,
he said.
And Sheane Meikle, who later spoke at the event about the history of Alberta’s relationship with the federal government, said the biggest myth he hears is that
separatists want to join the United States.
“That's a real misnomer because only about five per cent of people that want to be independent want to join the United States,”
Meikle estimated.
“We do not want to become part of the States.
Why would we change one federal government for another?”
With files from Emma Kilburn-Smith
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/independence-myth-engagement-9.7219718
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