Blocked by block | Tap

He is the leader of the block and he blocks the whole.

Isabelle Hachi
Tap

On Twitter, Yves-Franకోois is blocked in the Blanchett series. He will remove you from his account at the slightest false note. He will not hide it and will not apologize anymore.

“Twitter is often an ideological and biased channel,” he wrote to me. You should see messages from these people. […] This is disturbing animosity. ”

So the black leader is being cleaned up. A common question about mental hygiene for this politician-Twitter who maintains his own account.

And why not? We know the venom of anonymous trolls as well as their hatred on social networks. No one needs to bear their insults.

Except Mr. Blanchett does not close the trap for trolls. He prefers to be constructive or restrained, without criticizing his subscribers in the slightest. He also blocked his parliamentary colleagues.

* * *

Over the past few days, the block leader has become more of a blocker than ever. Dozens of internet users have been banned from his account after criticizing his skeptical remarks about the new transport minister Omar Alghabra.

Victims of the purge include Liberal MP for Hull-Ailmer, Greg Fergus, as well as Leh Ghazan, the rising star Swadeshi MP of the New Democratic Party. “I am so proud to be part of a blocked club! She was shocked on Twitter.

The two elected officials were joined by their New Democrat colleague Matthew Green, who blocked the fall, as well as Conservative MPs Luke Berthold and Alain Reyes, who blocked it a few months ago.

Yves-Franకోois Blanchett declined to say how many Twitter users were on his blacklist. “There are a handful of elected officers, however, I currently restrict my access.”

He explained that he wanted to stay away from the “orchestrated aggression” of his political opponents. “The Liberals and the NDP have run a verifiable and hateful campaign that has no reason to expose me.”

In other words, the growing criticism on Twitter over the Alghabra affair has little to do with public anger or even the general political game. They are the result of a “hateful” campaign against a black leader …

The explanation is convenient. Too much, no doubt.

In addition, Mr. Blanchett’s strategy is not without risks. He has every advantage to contribute to the political debate by blocking elected officials from questioning him on Twitter.

* * *

It is not only the elected officials. Yves-Franకోois Blanchett intercepts without discrimination. Federalists and separatists. People on the right and people on the left. Anglophones and Francophones.

Quidams, too. Like Mary Bernatchez, who describes herself as a “local Quebecker, center-left separatist, secularist”.

In the wake of the horrific Bonjour-Ho “affair”, she was restrained from commenting on Black’s Christmas ad with these three words: “Big Fail Gang!” ”

Three short words. That’s all.

In the last election, Mary Bernatchez voted for Black Cubacois.

Next? Suddenly she wants less.

* * *

Mr. Blanchett’s sensitive skin frightens voters like Mr. Blanchett.^{To me} Bernatchez. In terms of political strategy, we have already seen better.

Another danger is that the black leader traps himself in an ideological bubble. He can only hear his supporters, in a sort of echo room.

The tendency for Mr. Blanchett to hit his critics out of his virtual space raises a much broader issue. The problem of freedom of expression.

Yves-Franకోois Blanchett disagreed. “Networks are a virtual show where we welcome whoever we want, or not, on the contrary. Not a place where there is accountability. ”

He refused to read the attacks on Twitter. “It doesn’t restrict people’s freedom to write what they want about me.”

* * *

The problem is that Yves-Franకోois Blanchett is not Mr. Tout-le-Monde; He was an elected official, a federal party leader. He uses his account to make political statements.

In 2018, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson was sued by blocked Twitter followers. He admitted that his account was public and unblocked everyone.

In America, three judges of the Court of Appeal confirmed in 2019 that Donald Trump could not resist his criticism on Twitter. Under the First Amendment, the former president is restricting their freedom of speech.

Of course, we are not in the United States. Mr. Blanchett is not a statesman. But Richard Moon, a law professor at the University of Windsor, told the Canadian Press on Tuesday that a Canadian court could violate the freedom of expression guaranteed by the charter.

> Read the Canadian Press article

According to Professor Moon, politicians cannot decide to unilaterally exclude citizens from these forums because they do not share their views.

On Twitter, Mr. Blanchett put aside these “unusual and contradictory arguments” with the back of his hand. He attacked the article and CTV that aired it, emphasizing that “the right to hate is guaranteed … against the sovereign”.

In contrast to him he did not have many followers.