The year is 2015 and it seems that Canada isn’t willing to have a civil conversation about indigenous people. I say that because the CBC announced yesterday that it would be disabling the ability to comment on stories relating to indigenous people because of the vile, hateful, and bigoted commentary that is often left. Note that this only affects stories on indigenous people. Commenting is still enabled on other stories.
So, what does that say about Canada?
First I’d like to say that I would like to believe that not all Canadians are vile, hateful, and bigoted people. But clearly there are many who are, and the echo chamber effect that you often get when you discuss stuff online either through commenting on a story on a media site like the CBC or via Facebook or Twitter likely makes it seem like there are. But at the same time, the fact that the CBC has to go disabling comments for stories on one group of people shows that Canada still has some growing up to do. It also shows that this goes far beyond the bad behavior that exists online which I’ve complained about for years. I say that because if we as Canadians can’t have a civil conversation on a news story about indigenous people, how are Canadians supposed to have a meaningful conversation about important topics such as getting clean water to places where indigenous people live, or having an inquiry about murdered and missing indigenous women?
Canada had a Truth And Reconciliation Commission a few years back to allow both indigenous and non-indigenous people to heal from everything that has gone on over the last century and a half between these groups of people. We got the truth, but based on what’s happened to the CBC, there still needs to be reconciliation. And that needs to happen right now.
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This entry was posted on December 1, 2015 at 8:27 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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CBC Closes Online Comments For Stories On Indigenous People
The year is 2015 and it seems that Canada isn’t willing to have a civil conversation about indigenous people. I say that because the CBC announced yesterday that it would be disabling the ability to comment on stories relating to indigenous people because of the vile, hateful, and bigoted commentary that is often left. Note that this only affects stories on indigenous people. Commenting is still enabled on other stories.
So, what does that say about Canada?
First I’d like to say that I would like to believe that not all Canadians are vile, hateful, and bigoted people. But clearly there are many who are, and the echo chamber effect that you often get when you discuss stuff online either through commenting on a story on a media site like the CBC or via Facebook or Twitter likely makes it seem like there are. But at the same time, the fact that the CBC has to go disabling comments for stories on one group of people shows that Canada still has some growing up to do. It also shows that this goes far beyond the bad behavior that exists online which I’ve complained about for years. I say that because if we as Canadians can’t have a civil conversation on a news story about indigenous people, how are Canadians supposed to have a meaningful conversation about important topics such as getting clean water to places where indigenous people live, or having an inquiry about murdered and missing indigenous women?
Canada had a Truth And Reconciliation Commission a few years back to allow both indigenous and non-indigenous people to heal from everything that has gone on over the last century and a half between these groups of people. We got the truth, but based on what’s happened to the CBC, there still needs to be reconciliation. And that needs to happen right now.
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This entry was posted on December 1, 2015 at 8:27 am and is filed under Commentary with tags Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.