I’ve mentioned in the past that the popular quote that the Internet interprets censorship as damage to be routed around. I think there’s a related rule that the Internet even responds to attempts to control/restrict access in a similar fashion.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews found this out the hard way this week after introducing new legislation that would give police the ability to monitor Internet usage without even requiring a search warrant. Then, the cherry-on-top moment of Toews adding that anyone who disagreed with this legislation was in favour of child pornography (no, he didn’t. Yes, he did!)
Predictably, the Internet responded quickly, with a combination of humour and harshness, as it tends to do when someone threatens its core tenets. One Twitter feed started posting details of Vic Toews’s divorce and spending habits to make a point about it looks like when your private information is made public (which has since been shut down.)
Another hash tag encouraged users to #tellviceverything to give the Minister exactly what he seemingly wants – all the information about what we do online and off – with a couple politicians using the hash tag to great effect.
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