Online 'operatives' injecting hate into climate conversation: professor

A Saskatoon-born environmental activist got a firsthand look at how vitriolic online comments about environmental issues can be.

Aatash Amir was raised in Saskatoon but now lives in Vancouver. After learning about a motion to ban gas-powered leaf blowers that had been rejected by Vancouver city council in 2005, Aastash thought it would be worth reigniting the conversation.

He started posting about it on social media and created an online petition asking for gas-powered leaf blowers to be banned in Vancouver and in his home city of Saskatoon. 

Aatash said what happened next caught him by surprise. Instead of a discussion on climate change, his posts sparked hateful responses.

"Almost the moment I posted it I started getting really kind of rash reactions. People were insulting me, threatening me, suggesting suicide, violence. A lot of racist remarks which was pretty surprising," Aatash said.

"I had to just turn off the comments. I didn't want to respond to these folks because they weren't speaking logically."

Some negativity comes from co-ordinated efforts: professor

Dr. Alec Couros, a professor of education in information and communication technologies at the University of Regina, said online arguments often become personal.

"There's even something called Godwin's Law, which basically says that all online comments will eventually get to the point where someone will call someone Hitler," he said.

He said that once the conversation gets to this point there is little chance of any productive discourse.

Couros said you have to look closely at who is making the comments. Sometimes it's not a person at all but a bot or a person being paid to ignite division.

He said there are "operatives" targeting certain online conversations, sowing division and developing degrading memes which are easily spread with the intention to further aggravate the conversation.

Asked why Aatash's post about gas-powered leaf blowers sparked so much response, Couros said it triggered people from two different groups. He said people who work in the oil and gas industry would certainly have a lot to say about banning a gas powered leaf blower, but that the post may have hit a nerve with people feeling environmental activism exhaustion. 

"People might equate that it is getting to the point where it's just getting too dramatic or, you know, it's like every single aspect of our lives in some way is being threatened," Couros said.

He said online discourse can be good but that he thinks real change can only come the old fashion way, sitting eye-to-eye and having a real in person conversation.  

Aatash says even though the online attacks he received were swift and uncensored he isn't going to let it stop him. He said that through it all, the experience has only strengthened his passion for environmental activism.

'There's a lot of misinformation'

Megan Van Buskirk, a manager with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES), said environmental groups like hers have had to learn to deal with online hate. 

She said that when SES does get attacked, it's usually in the comment section of a news article it has been mentioned in. She said the attacks follow similar patterns. 

"Something that comes up a lot for us is where our funding comes from," Van Buskirk said. "There's a lot of misinformation about who funds environmental organizations and environmental charities."

She said SES doesn't receive a lot of hate on social media, but has a plan for when it does.

"We choose not to engage with like trolls,"  Van Buskirk said.  "It's akin to giving them a megaphone."