Poilievre YouTube revelations come at a time of increased awareness of online misogyny
Earlier this October, the new federal Conservative Party leader, Pierre Poilievre, made headlines after YouTube videos uploaded to his personal channel were found by Global News to include the tag #MGTOW. ‘Men going their own way,’ or ‘MGTOW’ for short, is a movement where men attempt to cut off contact with virtually all women in their lives. On mgtow.com, women are viewed as parasites who attempt to ride the coattails of men and their achievements—and it’s only by ridding themselves of most women that men can truly be free.
The #MGTOW movement is a part of the larger ‘manosphere,’ a collection of misogynistic groups that engage in a wide variety of activities, from venting about progress in gender equality to explicitly planning acts of violence against women. When describing why Reddit banned r/MGTOW, it was relayed that “while the movement was ostensibly about men ‘going their own way’ without women or relationships, the subreddit was obsessed with denigrating and hating women.”
The tag was found on 50 of Poilievre’s recent videos dating all the way back to March 2018. The tag was invisible to viewers, and helped promote Poilivere’s videos on topics ranging from the death of Queen Elizabeth II to messages on housing affordability. An internal probe as to how this could have happened was started and then called off by the Poilievre team, claiming that Poilievre was unaware of the tag and couldn’t determine how it was added.
Anthony Koch, a spokesperson for Poilievre, stated that “because Mr. Poilievre has had many staff upload videos who have passwords over the years, including in 2018, his office is unable to determine who exactly added the tag[s].”
The revelation caused swift political and public backlash, with Prime Minister Trudeau publicly calling on the Conservative leader to apologize in the House of Commons. This backlash is reflective of the increasing mainstream awareness of misogynistic behaviour online, such as when American influencer Andrew Tate was banned from TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter last August due to misogynistic remarks.
Tate first gained notoriety by appearing on the reality show Big Brother, and getting kicked off after a video of an alleged assault was circulated. His short videos on TikTok, which propelled him to viral fame, contained offensive and sexist remarks about women. His virality is partly due to his extreme statements, which include comparing women to property and blaming women for sexual assault.
The ‘manosphere’ culture and misogynistic content are closely intertwined, and some are worried about Poilievre’s popularity with such groups. Victoria College student Anasofia Florez told The Strand that although she wasn’t sure if the Conservative leader was directly involved in adding the tag, “the fact that anyone thought it might be politically advantageous to align with anti-feminists is horrifying.” She added that “Canadians too quickly forget how this rhetoric impacts our public safety, from the Montreal Massacre in 1989 to the Toronto Van Attack in 2018.”
Though the backlash towards Poilievre is fading, the issue of tackling misogyny, both online and in day-to-day life, remains a pressing question.
