Police must take online threats and harassment against journalists seriously: Trudeau

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino will tell chiefs of police today that all police forces need to take seriously a pattern of hate and harassment targeting journalists and other public figures.

Trudeau says the threats, particularly against women and racialized journalists, have a chilling effect on a free press and democracy.

Mendicino’s meeting with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police comes as a group representing journalists asks police to do more in the midst of what appears to be a targeted and co-ordinated campaign of threatening emails.

An open letter to Trudeau signed by dozens of media organizations urges police not to see individual complaints by journalists in a vacuum.