Trump's twitter mob has reached into Canada. What's the government to do?
Roll over? Or fight?
I'll leave the answer to you.
The story
"Canadian woman threatened with being 'dropped in an acid bath' for boycotting Trump products," the headline on the CBC report reads.
Amanda Dexter, of Wakefield, Quebec, joined a campaign calling on Hudson’s Bay to stop selling Ivanka Trump merchandise.
And a virtual mob descended upon her on Twitter, attacking her looks, her intelligence, and threatening her life.
When I look at Dexter's picture on CBC, I see strength, commitment, and humanity. She looks damned beautiful to me.
But one person wanted her "dropped in an acid bath." Another person warned, "We'll find her soon," CBC reports.
You may be wondering how Canada’s government can protect you and your right to freely say what you think and feel on social media. The online trolls can be incredibly vicious and hateful, threatening violence and murder.
Amanda Dexter’s story reminds us of the fragility of Canadian values against this onslaught.
What is to be done?
The question we must ask is what Canada can do to defend against Putin’s trolls, Trump’s fake news pumpers, and whatever’s coming next on social media platforms that we can’t as yet imagine.
I think the government should regulate social media platforms.
Use Canada’s Human Rights Act to do this. Twitter and Facebook have both folded to pressure by other governments to fall in line with national norms.
Germany has just introduced legislation to fine companies up to 50 million euros if they carry hate speech or fake news. Company executives that are found responsible would risk personal fines of up to five million euros. Now there's a way to focus the attention of corporate officials!
It will take strength and a fierce commitment to win battles with social media powerhouses, but, keep in mind, they have established themselves as the modern-day platforms for public conversation without any binding commitment to the public good. They’re not going to do what they’re not forced to do.
Twitter could very easily have shut this down. Closed every account from every troll that hammered this woman.
They didn’t.
Amanda Dexter complained to Twitter but the hate didn’t stop. As we all know, people have been silenced and have even committed suicide after being hounded online.
Let's stand up for this brave Canadian. Let's demand our government stand up for everyone like her.
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