Manitoba rural municipality calls out 'slanderous and defamatory' online comments

A rural Manitoba community is pushing back against what its mayor says have become increasingly ugly and abusive comments being posted on the municipality's Facebook page.

Issues with toxic online comments are becoming a growing problem in communities provincewide, says Jack Brisco, mayor of the rural municipality of Alexander.

"It has got to the point where employees and even volunteers are saying, 'I don't want to be here, I don't want to take this kind of abuse,'" said Brisco.

"And a lot of volunteers were saying, 'I'm going to quit. I can't take it anymore.'" 

Late last month, officials in Alexander, a municipality in Manitoba's Eastman region that's home to more than 3,800 residents, put out a notice warning they will no longer tolerate "inappropriate behaviour" on the municipality's Facebook page. 

The notice says the RM has been dealing with bullying and personal attacks, swearing and abusive language, and even harassment and threats toward staff.

The RM's social media feeds are also becoming increasingly filled with what it says are "slanderous and defamatory comments," and the spreading of "misinformation and unfounded accusations."

Brisco says a wildfire that began burning near the Bird River area of Alexander last month has emotions running high in the area.

That's ignited a noticeable increase in negative Facebook comments toward members of council, staff, residents and even first responders who have been working to put out fires. 

"I even heard a person that was a fire chief say, 'I can't take it anymore. I can't take the negativity.'"

Brisco said often, the most inappropriate and argumentative comments are coming from the same few people, who he believes are using the municipality's page just to provoke and agitate. 

One person in particular "made many, many entries on Facebook" that were particularly negative, he said.

"They were just becoming argumentative and harassing people that were trying to ask very valid questions."

The mayor said there are concerns some of the commenters may not even live in the RM, as it's been unable to match the name of at least one of the commenters to any properties in Alexander.

"We are sure that this person is just out there to argue with people, to fight with people, because they think that's what a good time is," said Brisco.

He's hoping more can be done to combat toxic Facebook comments, and to identify those who are consistently posting them. 

"We need to hunt those kinds of people down and do something, because they are not helping society," he said. "They're a hindrance." 

'It will have an effect on democracy': AMM

Association of Manitoba Municipalities executive director Denys Volkov says issues with inappropriate online comments are growing across the province and have, in some cases, become so abusive that some officials don't even feel safe in their own homes. 

"It's extremely disturbing to see, but unfortunately we've been seeing an escalation of this type of behaviour towards elected officials over a number of years," Volkov said. 

"We've heard stories that in some smaller communities, people know where they live, so there are concerns regarding threats and people attacking them." 

There's now a "vicious cycle" online, Volkov said, as some spread what he called "fake news and inaccurate information" that leads to more anger and mistrust of government. 

"People not using accurate information are getting agitated, and then they are ready to go after municipal officials," he said. 

Several politicians have told him the abuse has gotten so bad that it might push some to not run again in Manitoba's next municipal elections, set for 2026, said Volkov.

"It will have an effect on democracy at the grassroots level, because many don't want to see these attacks towards them, towards their families, and if it's on social media, it's very hard to do anything with these types of attacks."

Volkov says his association is now working to help its members deal with issues that arise online, including an initiative to create a "toolkit" that it hopes to release before the next election.

"Unfortunately right now, there are not many tools in the toolbox for municipal councils to deal with these type of personal attacks," he said.

"We're looking at examples from across Canada, across the world, because I would say it's … really a global phenomenon, and we're looking for best practices and how to combat this."

If more work is not done to combat online harassment, Volkov says he and others fear how bad it might get. 

"All across Manitoba, unfortunately, hard-working officials are facing these kinds of threats."