Obscene slogans spotted at trucker convoy sold on Amazon, Facebook

The continued trucker convoy protest has introduced downtown Ottawa to a standstill. Amid the DIY indicators and banners decrying Canada’s COVID-19 response, demonstrators have additionally been waving factory-made flags that bear obscene political slogans.

These flags and different offensive merchandise can be found on-line from sellers on Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Fb Market and extra.

“Company greed has no ethical compass, so in fact companies will make the most of a chance like this,” Barbara Perry advised CTV Information. Perry directs the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech College.

“We have seen that within the U.S. in response to Trumpism the place all method of paraphernalia had been produced not only for protest however for revenue,” Perry stated.

Lots of the flags are almost an identical: the phrases “F*** TRUDEAU” in white all-caps on a black background, the offending “U” swapped with a crimson maple leaf. Some designs function a raised center finger. One features a maple leaf merged with an assault rifle. Comparable photographs and messages can be found on every thing from espresso mugs to sweatshirts, and even on facemasks. Fox Information firebrand Tucker Carlson has additionally jumped on the protest merch bandwagon by providing a easy “I HEART TRUCKERS” shirt on his web site for greater than CA$40.

On Amazon, some “F*** TRUDEAU” merchandise have achieved “Bestseller” banners and racked up lots of of optimistic evaluations. They're additionally simply discovered on eBay, Etsy, Fb Market and different e-commerce websites. Whereas there are on-line sellers in each Canada and the U.S., the overwhelming majority of things seem like manufactured and shipped by corporations in China. 

“In a democracy, we tolerate political expression from a wide range of views, however I'm wondering if shoppers have thought of how their buy of those merchandise helps a rustic the place residents shouldn't have the identical rights to political expression,” Shelley Boulianne advised CTVNews.ca.

Boulianne is an affiliate professor at MacEwan College in Alberta who cowrote a 2020 examine on political consumerism, which is “the deliberate buy or avoidance of merchandise, items, or companies for political causes.” Boulianne calls the Trudeau merchandise a part of “a protracted historical past of consumption of merchandise… to precise one's political opinions.”

“I feel Canadians consuming these flags and associated merchandise ought to think about how the acquisition of those merchandise battle with their very own core democratic values associated to freedom of expression,” Boulianne stated.

On the Ottawa protests, others waved apparently off-the-shelf flags bearing Accomplice, Nazi and far-right symbols. Some demonstrators claimed they had been attempting to attract comparisons between present public well being measures and Nazi Germany.

“You both have that stuff since you’re a Nazi already, otherwise you paid anyone who’s a Nazi to purchase it,” Canadian Anti-Hate Community Government Director Evan Balgord advised CTVNews.ca. “There are some symbols that simply so clearly imply one factor: that you're for the subjugation and destruction of one other group of individuals.”

The Canadian Anti-Hate Community desires to ban such symbols from public areas. Whereas the Canadian Felony Code prohibits speech that incites or promotes hatred in opposition to identifiable teams, there are not any federal legal guidelines that particularly prohibit Nazi and comparable symbols.

“Simply having a Accomplice flag just isn't unlawful,” James Turk, the director of Ryerson College’s Centre for Free Expression, advised CTVNews.ca. “It’s offensive, it shouldn’t be performed, we now have each proper to precise outrage with anyone who does it, however it’s not a violation of the regulation.”

Like Boulianne, Turk factors out that offensive political merchandise have a protracted historical past in democratic societies.

“Amazon actually makes the manufacturing and distribution and promoting of these merchandise simpler than ever earlier than,” he stated. “However the phenomenon isn’t new.”

In a press release to CTVNews.ca, an Amazon spokesperson stated the corporate helps COVID-19 vaccination efforts and complies with native well being and security measures.

“The merchandise you reference are bought in Amazon’s on-line retailer by third-party sellers,” they defined. “Amazon doesn't permit merchandise that promote, incite or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or spiritual intolerance or promote organizations with such views.”

Based on a spokesperson from Fb’s father or mother firm Meta, “voicing opposition to authorities leaders or mandates just isn't in opposition to Meta’s insurance policies.”

“What we don’t permit is the sale of violent or hateful merchandise on our platforms, or the sharing of content material that makes dangerous claims about vaccines,” Meta added. “We’ll proceed monitoring our platform and can implement in opposition to any content material that violates our insurance policies.”

Etsy and eBay didn't reply to requests for remark. 

Turk from Ryerson College says that in these occasions of “excessive polarization,” it’s extra essential than ever to guard Canadians’ rights to freedom of expression—even maybe if that proper is crudely being exercised with “F*** TRUDEAU” flag.

“We are able to’t resolve these items by attempting to silence the opposition,” Turk stated of the continuing protests rattling Ottawa. “It’s much better to criticize, protest, object to and so forth. However unhealthy concepts and unhealthy behaviour don’t go away since you censor them.”

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  Folks stand on a flatbed truck throughout a rally in opposition to COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill, which started as a cross-country convoy protesting a federal vaccine mandate for truckers, in Ottawa, on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang