The Internet: an uncontrolled cesspool of information?

Was the Internet used to encourage or dampen Canada's upcoming summer of discontent?

Ever since the Internet had become a form of mainstream media, concerns have been raised over issues such as censorship. The Internet is generally viewed by the authorities and many from the general public as an uncontrolled cesspool of information. Yet it's not entirely uncontrolled or uncontrollable as many would like to think.

In mid-May a video was put on YouTube entitled "When Justice Fails, Stop the Rails" by a group calling itself the Railway Ties Collective. The three-and-a-half minute video begins with white words on a black screen stating that there are more than 800 native land claims pending in Canada and disrupting rail service could encourage provincial and federal governments to resolve them more quickly. It added:

The time it will take to resolve these things is expected to be more than 200 years.

The video was filmed at night with a person standing over a train track, showing step-by-step how to set off the red emergency lights that tell train conductors to stop immediately. There is no doubt that the video encouraged native people disgruntled with the slow pace of land claim issues to take action by creating rail blockades. "Creating the political will for just and timely resolution will take your help. Real solidarity means shouldering some of the burden of struggle," stated the video.

News of this video created an uproar. The railways said the measures outlined in the video were extremely dangerous and urged YouTube to pull the video. The mainstream media was also up in arms, calling the video and such actions terrorism. The RCMP (i.e., Canada's federal police force), meanwhile, merely stated that they were aware of the video but refused to say whether or not they were investigating the matter.

As the furor over the video peaked in mid-May, the video was still accessible online. The issue soon died down, however, as Canadians became obsessed with more important things, such as getting the barbecue ready for the long, Victoria's Day weekend. It was at this time, when no one was looking, that the video was quietly pulled from YouTube without any fanfare.

There was no subsequent follow-up to all of this, thus it's difficult to know exactly who ordered the video to be removed and how it was done, whether it was pressure on YouTube to ban it or whether those who had uploaded it removed the video themselves. Obviously, if the RCMP came out at the beginning, when the issue was at its peak, stating its intentions to force the video off YouTube, it would have created a certain backlash in terms of how content is actually monitored and being regulated on the Internet. Instead, the police opted for the silent approach, noting that they were aware of what was going on but not revealing what they intended to do about it, if anything.

This seemingly cautious approach is something that is actually part of a much bigger process related to the growing issue of native land claim settlements. The video actually came after native people near Tyendinaga, Ontario, already staged a protest of a similar nature. Moreover, many have been warning of mounting frustration among Canada's native youth. According to Assembly of First Nations Chief, Phil Fontaine, young natives are becoming increasingly desperate.

There are some very serious concerns, frustration, building and building, frustration turning to anger because our young people have no hope. They feel a deep sense of hopelessness because conditions in our communities are so desperate.

Fontaine said he understands the feeling of desperation, but he doesn't condone the type of action advocated in the video. Instead, he says diplomacy and discussions are the most effective ways of bringing about change and improving the plight of Canada's native people. At the same time, he warned that progress must be made quickly on land claim issues in order to prevent a summer of protests.

Already, some groups have made their intentions known for the summer. In Ontario, Chief Angus Toulouse said it's possible natives could blockade the 401 highway, one of Canada's busiest, on the eve of Canada Day (which is also the start of a long weekend) at the beginning of June. "Sometimes blockades, sometimes this kind of action, is what draws the attention of governments, and it's sad to have to go there. It really is," he said.

Others are more radical in their outlook. Chief Terry Nelson, of Roseau River First Nation in Manitoba, threatened to blockade the rail line connecting Eastern and Western Canada next month during a national day of action on June 29. "There are only two ways of dealing with the white man," he was quoted as saying. "One, either you pick up a gun, or you stand between the white man and his money." He continued:

I prefer to stand between the white man and his money. And I think it's pretty darned clear that if I were speaking about the poverty of the First Nations, nobody would even care.

The Canadian government's response to all this, meanwhile, is one of aloofness. In Ottawa, Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice simply said that rail blockades are illegal and counterproductive, and would erode goodwill with non-native Canadians.

Given the simmering discontent that threatens to boil over this summer, all this has raised questions as to who actually produced the video on disrupting the railways and for what purpose. The mainstream media immediately ran away with the story, putting the blame on native people and, in particular, Manitoba chief Terry Nelson. This, in turn, led many other native leaders to be more careful with their rhetoric, and even take a step back in their plans for protest.

But some speculate that native people may not have produced the video at all, but that non-native Canadians made it instead. Though the video makes reference to Mohawk blockades in Tyendinaga and Caledonia, the following sentence in the video suggests it might have been made by non-natives:

By halting the freight and passenger rail service, we who support indigenous struggles for dignity and fairness will show governments that indigenous people are not alone.

No doubt, there are some non-native groups who support the struggle for native rights in Canada, and one of them could have produced the video. On the other hand, given how the security services operate nowadays in this age of terrorism, it's not unthinkable that the authorities themselves are behind the video as a way to discredit native groups. In doing so, they hope to garner further public support against native civil disobedience protests planned for this summer.

All this is speculation at the moment, but still quite probable. In the end, the fact that the authorities were able to ultimately have the video removed from YouTube demonstrates that the Internet isn't an uncontrolled cesspool of information as many would think. Not only this, it most probably already is being used by some authorities as a sophisticated means of manipulation.