People based in the Netherlands are behind several YouTube channels that promote Alberta separatism but are fronted by hired actors, according to an investigation by CBC News’s visual investigations team and Radio-Canada’s Décrypteurs.
CBC News identified three individuals in the Netherlands whose digital trail links them to accounts that hired actors to appear on the YouTube channels. Two of them attended the same online course that teaches customers how to create “faceless” YouTube channels that generate passive income for the creators, who remain in the shadows.
Many of the videos contain sensationalized and misleading views of Canadian politics, and are promoted through thumbnails featuring images of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney with headlines that are blatantly false.
Two individuals reached by CBC News denied involvement, despite the evidence tying them to the scheme.
A new report from the Canadian Digital Media Research Network analyzed videos from similar ‘inauthentic’ accounts that seem targeted toward Albertans discussing possible separation from Canada. (Canadian Digital Media Research Network)
This week, a report by the Media Ecosystem Observatory (MEO), a joint project between the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal looking into Canadian media, identified 20 YouTube channels as part of a co-ordinated network focused on separatism in western Canadian provinces, and other political issues.
The report noted they use near-identical scripts and dubbed them “slopaganda.”
Altogether, the accounts have garnered roughly 40 million views.
The report says many of the videos contain “frequent and obvious lies, drawing on real news stories to reach exaggerated conclusions designed to exploit political divisions.” The report did not identify the individuals behind the apparent network, citing a lack of “identifying information to real humans or organizations nor ties to the secession movement in Alberta.”
The Media Ecosystem Observatory highlighted 20 YouTube accounts that yielded more than 40 million views. (Media Ecosystem Observatory)
“I think it’s disturbing that these voices are able to insert themselves in the conversation, and their interest is not to further the democratic discourse or … have a healthy, authentic conversation,” said Chris Ross, a senior analyst at the Media Ecosystem Observatory.
“They’re putting themselves in the middle of that, misleading Albertans, Canadians, and they’re just doing it to make money.”
‘I feel so violated’
The CBC News investigation found that four of the accounts are hosted by actors who either use different names or only their first names on the YouTube accounts on which they appear.
One of the accounts, The Canadian Politician, received more than 350,000 total views, according to the MEO report. The account features a video introducing the channel hosted by a person who identifies himself as “James.”
But “James” is known to the public as Matt Berry, a Calgary-based media worker. CBC News found him using a reverse image search.
“It’s f–ked up,” said Berry in an interview. “I feel so violated … I’m not part of a separatist movement. I’m literally, like, the opposite.”
CBC reverse-image searched The Canadian Politician and found Matt Berry of Calgary. (The Canadian Politician/YouTube, Matt Berry/Groover)
Berry said he had responded to a job posting on the gig work site Upwork, had gotten in touch with the client and sent an audition video.
He said the audition video had been used on the channel without his knowledge or permission, and that he never signed a contract with anyone nor been paid for his work. The other videos on the channel appear to use an AI-generated voiceover that does not sound like Berry.
WATCH | Actor hired for viral Alberta separatism videos speaks out:
Actor hired for Alberta separatism ‘slopaganda’ speaks out
CBC’s visual investigations team and Radio-Canada’s Décrypteurs uncovered the surprising truth about who is behind YouTube channels posting misleading videos about Alberta separatism and raking in millions of views. Canadian media personality Matt Berry became the unwitting face of one of these channels, and tells his story to CBC.
The Netherlands connection
Two X accounts linked to the YouTube channels, including The Canadian Politician, state that they were created while connected to the Netherlands App Store. A third X account is based in the Netherlands, according to the platform.
Multiple X accounts associated with the YouTube pages profiled by MEO were based in the Netherlands. (TCanadianP/X, CanadaReporter_/X, DavidFraserYT/X)
Berry provided CBC News with screenshots of his correspondence with the person who hired him on Upwork. The name used by the account is Daan Jurgers and their profile states they are based in the Netherlands. The conversation moved to Discord, where an account named “Daan” shared several documents hosted on Google Docs with Berry.
Berry sent CBC some screenshots of his Discord conversation with the account using Daan Jurgers’ name. (Submitted by Matt Berry)
One of the documents is owned by an email account containing the name Daan Jurgers. Using Darkside, a tool that searches leaked databases, CBC News uncovered social media profiles created with the email address. They revealed that Jurgers is a sports writer based in the Netherlands.
A document shared with CBC shows it was created by an email with Daan Jurgers’ name and shared with Matt Berry. It includes details on hiring for video creation and Discord information. (Submitted by Matt Berry)
On a phone call with CBC News, Jurgers initially confirmed he hired people to create YouTube videos, but hung up when asked for further details.
In a follow-up email, Jurgers denied involvement altogether, saying, “I believe there is a misunderstanding regarding my alleged involvement. I am not connected to the activities you describe.” Jurgers subsequently suggested his email address “may have been used without my knowledge or permission” and said that his previous confirmation had been a misunderstanding.
Other documents shared with Berry were created by email addresses that CBC News linked to writers based in Pakistan using OSINT Industries, a search tool for public information on the internet.
CBC News uncovered more connections to people based in the Netherlands.
One of the accounts identified by the Media Ecosystem Observatory report was CanadianHub, which advertises itself as delivering “straight talk, real context, and a clearer view of what’s happening in Canada and the world.” The channel is hosted by Paul Nicholls, who is based in the U.S.
A screenshot from the YouTube channel CanadianHub. (CanadianHub/YouTube)
Nicholls told CBC News he agreed to be paid about $60 US for the videos. He said that he has not received that money yet.
“I’m in Indiana. I don’t know anything about Canadian politics,” said Nicholls. “I’m not going to do any more of these because I don’t want to be a part of that.”
Nicholls shared screenshots of conversations with the person who hired him. The Discord account used the username “marijnmasseus” and had a profile photo that matched a social media account for a man named Marijn Masseus who lives in the Netherlands and describes himself as a “digital creator.”
Screenshots show a match between the name and profile pictures for the person speaking with Nicholls on Discord (left) and a Facebook profile for a man based in the Netherlands (right). (Paul Nicholls, Marijn Masseus/Facebook)
Through email, Masseus responded to CBC News and said, “To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what you are talking about.” He repeatedly denied knowledge of the channel, saying, “I have never earned money from misleading content.” He also suggested someone else may be controlling his accounts or using his identity: “I suddenly see that all my profile pictures are changing; this is scaring me. I hope people aren’t using my name.”
As CBC News provided him with additional evidence via email of his link to CanadianHub, portions of his social media presence were deleted or altered.
The most popular channel MEO identified is The Canadian Reporter, with 15 million views. CBC News followed the trail of reviews on the freelance job site Fiverr for the actor featured on the channel — Pennsylvania-based Andrew Baldwin — and found Baldwin was hired by someone with the username “Lisanne___,” whose Fiverr profile indicates they are from the Netherlands.
CBC News also followed the trail of a Fiverr reviewer for another actor and found they were hired by someone whose profile indicates they are from the Netherlands. (lisanne___/Fiverr)
Baldwin did not respond to a request for comment from CBC News.
‘Faceless’ YouTube content
It’s not clear that the individuals identified by CBC News are connected. However, digital clues link two of them to the same online course.
People behind the accounts attended an online course teaching people to create “faceless” YouTube videos that generate passive income. Discord screenshots shared with CBC News by actor Bart Kraning — who appeared on the channel DavidFraserYT, which garnered over 12 million total views, according to MEO — show him talking to an account called MJY Trading, who signs off as Youp Licher.
A LinkedIn account for Youp Licher identifies him as the Netherlands-based co-owner of MJY Trading and describes its business as “Faceless YouTube Videos.”
CBC News linked an email address containing Licher’s name to an 11-month-old review for an online course called “Faceless Education Community.”
Faceless Education claims to teach people to generate income through ‘faceless’ YouTube channels. (Faceless Education Community/Skool)
“I went from making €0 in revenue to being able to live off my YouTube income. If you’re willing to go all out for a few months, this could literally change your life!” the review states.
Faceless Education advertises itself as a way to “learn how to grow a profitable YouTube channel, without ever showing your face.” The course is hosted by Niels van der Linde, its website is in Dutch and its page on Skool — a site for online courses and their communities — states that it has more than 4,000 members.
In response to a CBC News interview request, Faceless Education sent an email that said, “There is no political component to what we teach, and the model has nothing to do with influencing political opinions or divisions. We are not in a position to comment on specific accounts you are describing, nor on the actions of individuals.”
Testimonial videos hosted on the course’s YouTube channel feature Licher.
“I did auditing at KPMG full-time … and now I quit my job. So I do full-time YouTube,” he says in the video. Licher’s LinkedIn account confirms he previously worked at international accounting firm KPMG.
Youp Licher is seen in a testimonial for the Faceless Education course. (Faceless Education/YouTube)
In an email response to CBC News, Licher confirmed he created faceless YouTube channels focused on “generating revenue through AdSense.” He said the videos were based on a wide range of sources and that they provide “well-rounded and informative content.”
“It is important to clearly emphasize that we are not affiliated in any way with political movements, advocacy groups or campaigns related to independence or similar agendas,” he said.
Another testimonial for Faceless Education features Marijn Masseus, who CBC News linked to the CanadianHub channel that featured videos hosted by actor Paul Nicholls.
Marijn Masseus is seen in a testimonial for the Faceless Education course. (Faceless Education/YouTube)
‘The shitty side of YouTube faceless’
In Discord chats, Licher explains the similarities in content flagged by MEO as being the result of copying a successful model.
“Yeah that is a bit of the shitty side of YouTube faceless,” Licher wrote. “People copy what works haha. We are also in no way related to US/Canada misinformation. We just earn AdSense revenue by making content haha.”
In messages to Berry seen by CBC News, the “Daan” Discord account sent two other Netherlands-linked YouTube channels featured in the MEO report and referred to them as “my competitors.” CBC News did not link Daan Jurgens to the course.
“I hope that YouTube and governments around the world and in Canada are able to address this content,” said Chris Ross at MEO. “I just think it’s important that the consumers of the videos are able to differentiate voices that are authentic and real and care about what they’re talking about from these other folks that are just in it to make money. I think what they’re doing is a real disservice to democracy in Canada.”
Radio-Canada’s Décrypteurs team reached out to YouTube for comment on several of the accounts.
“YouTube doesn’t allow spam, scam or other deceptive practices that take advantage of the YouTube community,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.
Several accounts identified in the MEO report, including the accounts featuring Nicholls and Berry, are no longer available on YouTube.
