A Canadian task force said on Friday that malicious news articles originating on Chinese social media tried to disparage former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is running to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the leader of the Liberal Party.

China may have launched a "disparaging" and "malicious" campaign against Liberal leadership candidate Chrystia Freeland on the social media platform WeChat, according to the task force set up to monitor foreign election interference.

A Canadian task force reported that malicious news articles originating from Chinese social media attempted to discredit former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, a candidate to succeed Justin Trudeau as Liberal