Canadian Media Apologizes For Ad Featuring Teenage Journalist Following Pressure From Pro-Israel Group

I wanted to share with you another troubling case of censorship in the media. This time, an ad in the Montreal Gazette bringing attention to the human rights abuses by the Israeli government on Palestinians was pulled by the paper’s owner PostMedia and an apology made for allowing the ad. The basis for the complaint made by HonestReporting Canada that led to the apology was that the ad was "anti-Israel" and contained "misinformation".

It is extremely dangerous for the media to be censoring their content for any reason but especially when based on the wishes of foreign governments, in this case the far-right, nationalist Israeli government. Let me be clear: critiques of governments should never be mistaken for racism or cultural attacks towards the people of those states, whether it’s Israel, China, India, or even Alberta, and we are increasingly being led to believe that there is no difference.

What this blurring of the lines between citizens and those who rule over them does is protect regimes from being held accountable for their actions. Could you imagine if the Canadian government successfully got critical coverage of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pulled for being anti-Canada?

These attacks on the media are straight up attacks on democracy. We should not tolerate it, lest we continue to cede our freedoms to bad actors using identity politics and media control in their pursuit of absolute power.