Hon. Peter M. Boehm: Honourable senators, I rise today to condemn the ongoing and increasing pattern of online abuse, harassment and threats directed at women journalists and, in particular, women journalists of colour.

In a functioning democracy, all journalists need to be able to do their crucial job of reporting the news and holding governments, decision makers and others to account. And, just like the rest of us, they have the right to share their opinions when journalistically appropriate.

The universal right to freedom of opinion and expression is a fundamental tenet of a free and open society. We are indeed fortunate to have that in Canada, but our country is not immune from the troubling, and worsening, global trend of online violence targeting women journalists.

The past few months have seen increasing attacks on women journalists in Canada with vile comments and threats against them on social media. These threats have been amplified by the pile-on effect, made worse by the fact that many perpetrators can remain comfortably anonymous as they spew their hatred. It has reached the point where individual journalists have had to seek police protection. It saddens and angers me that Canadian public figures, including parliamentarians, have either intentionally or unintentionally used their own social media platforms to incite, encourage or tacitly approve of such behaviour.

Sexism and misogyny in media are nothing new. The great journalists who sit as colleagues in this chamber have surely all experienced it. As two-way news platforms and social media sources continue to outperform legacy media, audience interaction has become a key metric in measuring the success of broadcast journalists. This puts added pressure on women journalists in the sense that, to succeed in their careers, they must deal with constant online harassment.

A UNESCO study last year surveyed women journalists from 125 countries. Of all attacks against women journalists, 41% were linked to orchestrated disinformation campaigns designed to smear reputations, decry so-called fake news and spread rumours about journalists’ personal lives; obscene deepfakes are also a problem. Of the journalists surveyed, 30% responded that they self-censored their social media posts, and 20% withdrew from online interaction altogether.

Colleagues, in my previous life as a G7 Sherpa, in 2018, I chaired negotiations on the G7’s Charlevoix Commitment to End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Abuse and Harassment in Digital Contexts. It did not get the same attention as the antics of one particular summit participant, and I do not have time for details, but commitment number seven stands out for me:

Encourage everyone, particularly men and boys, to speak out strongly against sexual and gender-based violence, abuse, harassment and discrimination.

Honourable senators, that is what I am doing today. I encourage all of you, especially my male colleagues, to join me. Thank you.