Canada: CFWIJ Concerned About Threats And Abuse Faced By Journalist Brandi Morin
Location: Canada
Date: February 2, 2022
Journalist Brandi Morin, known for her coverage of the concerns of indigenous groups in Canada, is on the receiving end of a vile abuse campaign. She is receiving messages which threaten her professional and personal safety through her email as well as through her social media accounts. CFWIJ was informed that she has received over 60 hateful and threatening emails in the past 24 hours. Not only is Brandi Morin uniquely positioned as an indigenous voice in the press fraternity, thus making her vulnerable to attacks from far-right groups, women journalists in the country have collectively experienced a spike in digital hostilities in the past few months.
While no explicit reason is currently apparent regarding why Brandi in particular is being targeted, it is important to note that she is currently covering the incidents of RCMP violence in indigenous territories. The subject has made journalists extremely vulnerable to hate campaigns and state brutality in the recent past.
I don’t often do this, but doesn’t anyone know this man? He emailed me today… pic.twitter.com/LpNWPDlEEe
— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) February 2, 2022
The Coalition For Women In Journalism has routinely reported on disturbances related to the protests by indigenous people in the Wet’suwet’en territory as well as at Fairy Creek. However, overtime it has become abundantly apparent that the Canadian police act with an air of impunity against citizens in the area as well as the civil rights afforded to them. They have also repeatedly encroached on the freedom of the press and the citizens’ right to information. An example of this is when on November 19, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested award-winning photojournalist and reporter Amber Bracken. She was reporting on the escalating situation at Gidimt’en camp in Wet’suwet’en territory from the ground.
Another cause of concern for CFWIJ is the repeated provocation against journalists by right-wing politician Maxime Bernier. Bernier’s tweets had led to a widespread hate campaign against journalists belonging to gender and ethnic minorities in Canada last year. Recently again, Bernier incited a similar trend. After one of his tweets positioned journalists as liars and accused them of “slandering decent people”, Mercedes Stephenson drew attention to the onslaught of hate that she received from what appeared to be supporters of right-wing politics. Rachel Gilmore faced similar attacks on her accounts as well, stating that not only has she been receiving vile abuse from certain sections of the Twitter user base, her loved ones are also being harassed due to their association with her.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is extremely concerned regarding this recurring trend of digital violence against women journalists as well as journalists belonging to ethnic minorities. This harassment of Brandi Morin is the latest in a series of such events. Women and minority journalists are already vulnerable to majoritarian hate campaigns, and social media is being weaponized as a tool to intimidate them into silence. These repeated attacks and the silence of the authorities concerned threatens the freedom of press in the country.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.