Guilbeault Required by Court to Unblock Rebel News Founder on X, Fined $20,000
The Federal Court of Canada has issued an order to Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault to pay Rebel News founder Ezra Levant $20,000 and unblock him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, concluding a lawsuit the latter filed in 2021.
“Unlike private sector cancel culture, this violates constitutional rights including freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” Mr. Levant told The Epoch Times in reacting to the Sept. 11 court order.
“Government Twitter accounts, especially those of cabinet ministers, provide important information to the public, and also allow the public to reply and interact with the government.”
The Federal Court of Canada has issued an order to Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault to pay Rebel News founder Ezra Levant $20,000 and unblock him on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, concluding a lawsuit the latter filed in 2021.
“Unlike private sector cancel culture, this violates constitutional rights including freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” Mr. Levant told The Epoch Times in reacting to the Sept. 11 court order.
“Government Twitter accounts, especially those of cabinet ministers, provide important information to the public, and also allow the public to reply and interact with the government.”
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Mr. Levant likened a government official blocking a private citizen on social media to “cancel culture,” but added that the stakes are higher when the press is similarly barred access to elected officials.
Justice Russel W. Zinn presided over the consent order, part of which stipulated the lawsuit’s respondents “do not admit and in fact deny any liability in respect of the allegations made in the application.”
“I’m really pleased with how this battle ended,” Mr. Levant said, “but Guibeault spent two years and hundreds of thousands of tax dollars fighting us. He really should pay the $20,000 cost penalty himself, but I’m sure he’ll pass that off to taxpayers, too.”
Mr. Levant’s X post claims Mr. Guibeault’s lawyers tried to have him abide by a confidentiality clause to not reveal the outcome of the case.
The lawsuit argued Twitter, which it cited as having 192 million users, functioned as a modern public square, and that the defendants’ actions constituted a violation of free expression.
The Epoch Times reached out to both Environment Canada and Justice Canada for comment, but did not receive responses before publication time.
