The Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy

Progressive Dialogue and Policy for a Better Canada

REPORT. Getting Serious: Women on the Ballot& Social Media

By

REPORT. Getting Serious: Women on the Ballot& Social Media

  • Date: June 13, 2019, 7:30 am to
  • For more information:

GETTING SERIOUS: Women on the Ballot & Social Media

Report from forum held on Thursday June 13, 2019; 7:30 to 9:00 am

Room 330, Wellington Building, 197 Sparks Street, Ottawa (Parliamentary Precinct)

 

A discussion on women on the ballot in this year’s general election and the role of social media especially as experienced by women politicians; a panel discussion with social media industry representatives, Parliamentarians and scholars.

With the Support of Famous 5 Ottawa

Co-hosted with the All-Party Women’s Caucus, House of Commons

 

SUMMARY OF MAIN SOLUTIONS PROPOSED  

 Actions for individuals:

  • Hide the comments section so that only you and the sender can see them
  • Recruit those with knowledge of new or obscure slurs so that they may recognize and flag them
  • All Canadians should be comprehensively educated on social media literacy
  • Plan and prepare for the main attacks that will be made
  • Do not engage, ignore trolls and bots when they make attacks
  • Block, report, or mute abusive accounts and bots when you see them. Social media sites such as Twitter will be alerted to this and monitor their activity

Public Policy and the role of social media companies:

  • Social media companies must maintain open channels of communication with global law enforcement
  • Policy: work with social media companies, educate children
  • Create a position in Canada similar to the one that Australia has of an “E-Safety Commissioner,” which would be focused on dealing with the type of targeted harassment that our female politicians face

 

PANELISTS

 – Michele Austin, Head, Government and Public Policy, Twitter Canada

  • Kevin Chan, Public Policy Head, Facebook Canada
  • Kathryn Hall, Executive Director, MediaSmarts
  • Dr. Betsy McGregor, Author, Women on the Ballot
  • PARLIAMENTARIANS:
  • Iqra Khalid, MP (Liberal) and Chair All Party Women’s Caucus (Co-Host)
  • Karen Vecchio, MP (Conservative) Chair, Status of Women Committee
  • Irene Mathyssen, MP (New Democratic Party of Canada), Status of Women Critic
  • Monique Pauzé, MP (Bloc Québécois)
  • Elizabeth May, MP (Green Party of Canada) Leader
  • Celina Caesar-Chevannes, MP (Ind) (TBC)
  • Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, Independent Senator – Co-Chair & Panel ModeratoR
  • Andrew Cardozo, President, Pearson Centre – Co-Chair

 

Les femmes sur le bulletin de vote & des médias sociaux

Jeudi 13 juin 2019; 7h30 à 9h00 Pièce 330, édifice Wellington, 197, rue Sparks, Ottawa (Cité parlementaire)

Une discussion sur les femmes inscrites au scrutin lors des élections générales de cette année et sur le rôle des médias sociaux, en particulier en tant qu’expérience des femmes politiques; une table ronde avec des représentants de l’industrie des médias sociaux, des parlementaires et des universitaires.

Co-organisé avec le caucus des femmes de tous les partis, Chambre des communes.

Avec le soutien de Famous 5 Ottawa

– Michele Austin, chef, Politiques gouvernementales et publiques, Twitter Canada

  • Kevin Chan, responsable des politiques publiques, Facebook Canada
  • Kathryn Hall, directrice générale, HabiloMédias
  • Dr. Betsy McGregor,auteur,Women on the Ballot

 

PARLEMENTAIRES:

  • Iqra Khalid, (libérale) et présidente du caucus des femmes de tous les partis
  • Karen Vecchio, (conservatrice) Présidente, Comité de la condition feminine
  • Irene Mathyssen (Nouveau Parti démocratique du Canada), porte-parole, Condition féminine
  • Monique Pauzé, (Bloc Québécois)
  • Elizabeth May (Parti Vert du Canada), Chef
  • Celina Caesar-Chevannes, (indépendante) (à confirmer)
  • La sénatrice Julie Miville-Dechêne, groupe de sénateurs indépendants – modératrice

___________________________________________________________________

 

THE REPORT

Bright and early on the morning of June 13th, we hosted a panel of various experts and Members of Parliament to discuss the topic of women in politics and their unique and often negative experiences on social media.

Special thanks to Famous 5 Ottawa for their support and involvement and to the All-Party Women’s Caucus, House of Commons

 

Experts present at this discussion were Kevin Chan, Global Director and Head of Public Policy for Facebook Canada, Michele Austin, Public Policy for Twitter, Kathryn Hill, Executive Director at MediaSmarts, and Dr. Betsy McGregor: Founder and Facilitator of McGregor Leadership and author of Women on the Ballot. There were M.P.s from five political parties present, namely, Iqra Khalid M.P. (Liberal), Karen Vecchio M.P. (Progressive Conservative), Irene Mathyssen M.P. (New Democratic Party), Monique Pauzé M.P. (Bloc Québécois), and Elizabeth May M.P. (Green). These women, like nearly all female politicians, receive endless vulgar and abusive comments online daily, this panel was an opportunity for them to express some of their concerns to experts in the field who may have some answers.

The four experts were all given time at the beginning of the panel to speak to the overall issue at hand.

Michele Austin spoke on the potential of social media to be a force for good, instead of a platform for hate. This was a hope that was shared by many on the panel who understood the positive impact that these websites have to potential to bring.

Kevin Chan, while aware of the issues still posed by social media, spoke confidently about the direction we are headed with regards to flagging hate speech and other forms of online abuse. With regards to Facebook, Chan pointed out that approximately 60% of hate speech is now being flagged. Kathryn Hill shared the sentiments expressed by Ms. Austin of social media having the potential for good if used right.

Ms. Hill pointed out the purpose of this online harassment, which is to silence women’s voices; to combat this, we must all be aware of what we can do to help, and must positively intervene whenever possible.

Dr. Betsy McGregor, whose new book is the namesake of the panel, used her time to lay out a series of actions that she feels are necessary to combating and minimizing this online harassment. The specifics of Dr. McGregor’s recommendations were first, to plan and prepare for what online trolls are likely to latch onto. She emphasized being analytically critical of one’s own past to foresee what attacks would be made. The next actions to minimize harassment were to legislate and litigate; an example of this that Dr. McGregor used was the motion put forward in the House of Commons by fellow panellist, Iqra Khalid M.P. which called for the condemnation of Islamophobia as well as other forms of racism.

Following the statements by the experts, the floor was given to the Members of Parliament to ask questions and express concerns. A topic that came up several times during the Q&A with the M.P.s was blocking abusive accounts. The Members had some different opinions on this topic; Ms. Khalid stated that her twitter account has blocked approximately 1300-1400 accounts, whereas Ms. May brought up the point that blocking an account is sometimes seen as a badge of honour by the individual blocked, and she, therefore, has not blocked a single account. The social media representatives on the panel stated that it is always best to report and block abusive accounts, especially on Twitter, as they will then be closely monitored in the future and are more likely to be caught and suspended. The conversation also touched on where and who these abusive comments are coming from, and how that may further complicate the situation.

A concern brought up under this topic was what exactly could be done about hate that comes from other countries, falling outside of Canadian jurisdiction. Although dealing with hate and abuse from outside of Canada is more complicated, one of the most important things that our social media companies can do is to keep global law enforcement channels open, that is something that our social media experts told us they were actively doing. Another way in which we can all do our part in combating hate from other countries is to make sure we know how to report abusive accounts, so that the appropriate authority may deal with it accordingly.

One of the final points discussed at length on the panel was the anonymity that Twitter allows users to have. This comes with its pros and cons, one pro brought up by Ms. Austin, was that anonymity can be used by women who feel unsafe due to some factor in their online or personal lives to come forward and seek help without fear that anyone will know it is them with that issue. Ms. Austin clarified that while she believes anonymity can be positive in this sense, Twitter still does not allow for malicious bots to remain on the platform after they have been identified.

Green Party Leader, Elizabeth May expressed a different opinion on the matter, concerned by the vile things that abusers say when protected by anonymity, and the way they can practically shapeshift into another bot with another face if caught and suspended or shut down.

There is no single answer to this issue, it is multifaceted and will take dedication from many parties to change. Perhaps creating a position for an E-Safety Commissioner here in Canada as they have in Australia, as was mentioned in the panel discussion, would be a positive step for the government to take, but it will take the actions of all of us to tame the abuse that occurs online. As was mentioned by many during the panel, social media has the potential to be a fantastic platform for change and a tool for more women to get involved in politics; however, it is up to all of us to help make it a positive enough space for change to flourish.

 

_______________________________________________________

 

Related Content