Canada: New Wave Of Trolls Threaten Women Journalists, CFWIJ Calls On Authorities To Investigate
Location: Canada, Toronto
Date: December 8, 2022
Journalist Saba Eitizaz has been targeted with a new wave of life-threatening emails from far right groups. Journalists Rachel Gilmore and Erica Ifill's names were mentioned in these emails as well. The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Saba Eitizaz and these brave women journalists. We find it unacceptable that the appropriate authorities have yet to conduct an investigation and demand an immediate in depth inspection of the case.
Award-winning journalist, co-host and producer of the Toronto Star's daily news podcast "This Matters'' has been on the receiving end of a number of chilling emails. Eitizaz reached out to CFWIJ in efforts to sound the alarm on the alerting case. Unfortunately, this is not a new occurrence for the journalist. CFWIJ has found and reported Eitizaz being targeted several times with organized trolling campaigns. However, the new wave of attacks appears much more dangerous. Eitizaz is getting emails from an extremist group which include explicit death threats. We at CFWIJ are extremely concerned about Eitizaz's safety.
In a statement for CFWIJ, Eitizaz said: 'We are being targeted because we spoke on panels about overall journalist safety and talked about Canadian white supremacist and far-right groups. The emails pick up every few months. Usually as a reaction to something. If you look at our socials, you will see we’re under siege from trolls."
On September 27, 2021, Saba Eitizaz was sent numerous grotesque emails as part of a malicious campaign launched against women journalists and women of color. The wave of threats began after right-wing politician Maxime Bernier tweeted a provocative message inciting his supporters. Maxime reportedly deleted the tweet later, but the slew of racist and deeply gendered threats continued.
On July 1, 2022, Eitizaz was targeted with a rampant spree of vile misogynistic and racist slogans. Right-wing populist leaders such as Maxime Bernier have been weaponizing racist and nationalistic rhetoric against women journalists of color in recent years rendering them susceptible to attacks, especially in the digital sphere.
On August 2, 2022, Eitizaz was subjected yet again to a series of vicious, racist and sexist messages. Women journalists of color have been targeted more frequently in connection with the racially charged atmosphere since Canada’s election season last year. The vitriol is worse on social media where trolls can hide behind anonymity.
"Do the lives and safety of former refugee journalists not carry as much weight, are not worth enough, or have less value that they don’t deserve amplification and advocacy? Ironically when they’re the recipient of this recent email hate campaign? wrote Eitizaz in a Twitter post.
The Minister of Public Safety, Macro Mendocino said "The abuse that Rachel and other journalists have received - particularly women and people of colour - is heinous and unacceptable."
"I’m personally trying to coordinate a meeting with the detective on my case next week when I have more energy. Public support is crucial, especially from allies." said Eitizaz.
CFWIJ highlights that the majority of troll campaigns target women of color and journalists from minority and immigrant backgrounds. We emphasize that mental and moral support systems for women journalists who are targeted by such vicious campaigns are fundamentally important.
"Our newsrooms are currently working with police forces in three different jurisdictions to no avail. I don’t think this is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) matter. These are domestic threats. We are amplifying where we can. The police have done nothing and have no infrastructure or political will to figure out the systematic nature of these threats. Nothing has changed since then. They haven’t acknowledged the threats as serious" adds Eitizaz.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism has been closely monitoring the situation and will continue to do so. We condemn these abhorrent attacks on Saba Eitizaz and urge the Canadian authorities to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Other Women Journalists Of Color Face The Same Exact Hostilities For Doing Their Jobs
Columnist for The Hill Times, Erica Ifill, and reporter covering federal politics for Global News, Rachel Gilmore, have also mentioned cases of trolling, abuse, and threats against them. All the threatening emails naming both Ifill and Gilmore were sent to Eitizaz.
On August 23, 2022, Erica Ifill received a slew of hateful, vitriolic email messages from the so-called "The Boogaloo Boys" targeting the race and gender of the journalist. The Coalition For Women In Journalism has extensively monitored and reported online violence against women journalists, especially those belonging to racial, gender and sexual minorities.
On July 7, 2022, Rachel Gilmore became the target of an organized online troll campaign. Canadian politician Pierre Poilievre who has served as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the leader of the Official Opposition declared her “unprofessional” and then issued a statement in which his team wrote about dwindling faith in the Canadian media and Global News being a liberal mouthpiece of the Trudeau government.
The increasingly hostile digital space in Canada combined with the indifference and negligence shown by both the Canadian authorities and social media conglomerates has evidently given room to perpetrators of online hate to carry on without fear of repercussions.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Saba Eitizaz, Erica Ifill and Rachel Gilmore. The Canadian authorities' lack of response towards these malignant attacks on women journalists promotes a culture of impunity for the perpetrators as well as severely corrodes democratic principles and press freedom in the country. We demand that the appropriate measures are taken and the culprits are held accountable for their actions.
Ashleigh-Rae Thompson spoke to CFWIJ saying, “I think the rise of the right-wing on social media is already having real-life ramifications. People will feel emboldened and move from harassing people online, to possibly attacking people on the streets. I live right near Yonge and Dundas, and the right-wing, anti-vaxxers protest so frequently there. Their numbers are only growing. I haven't figured out yet if it will impact the way I do journalism. I know journalists and activists who have had their addresses leaked by these kinds of groups. That hasn't happened to me, but I fear one day it might. I've definitely tightened up my social media presence a little because of it.”
Canada is the top country where the most number of women journalists have been targeted with organized troll campaigns. 14 troll campaigns in total. The majority of these campaigns target women of color and journalists from minority and immigrant backgrounds. An alarming 25% of total organized troll campaigns have been documented in Canada so far in 2022. As a result, the CFWIJ launched a campaign to End Violence Against Women Journalists In Canada.
On September 1, 2022, The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ), along with 46 leading journalists’ associations and media outlets, signed an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking for an end to increased cases of online harassment and violent threats against women journalists and journalists of color in the country.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism extends support to women journalists in Canada and strongly urges the Canadian authorities to look at these cases with the utmost importance as journalists' lives and the fundamental pillars of democracy are at stake.
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.