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EDITORIAL: Don't feed the trolls

Many St. Albertans were appalled by attention-seekers on St. Albert Trail Saturday, brandishing messages of hate and flashing Nazi salutes to passersby
opinion

Many St. Albertans were shocked and appalled to see three figures standing on St. Albert Trail Saturday afternoon, brandishing messages and symbols of hate and flashing Nazi salutes to passersby.

It didn’t take long to discover that the main mover behind this odious display isn’t from St. Albert.

Rather, the culprit is a self-professed “Canadian nationalist musician” who pulled exactly the same idiotic stunt in Calgary less than two weeks ago, according to his social media feed.

We know his name, but we’re choosing not to use it. Because that’s what he wants.

He wants to be loved — and perhaps more importantly, to be hated. What he wants is attention and reaction.

Sadly, he’s getting a boatload of both online. Social media is designed not to make us think, but simply to make us react — the hotter and faster, the better. Nobody’s trying to change anyone’s mind; rather, they’re trying to enrage their opponents and embolden their base.

It also makes tiny minorities seem much bigger than they really are. If 99.9 per cent of the population is opposed to the racist, anti-immigrant messages and fascist imagery that was shown on display, that would mean there’s 70 people in St. Albert who would support it.

In Greater Edmonton? About 1,500. In Alberta? About 4,800. In Canada? Forty thousand. And they’ve all got accounts on X to amplify each other and make it seem like their bile really has an audience.

But remember: for every one of them, there’s 999 who know better. Who know that nearly all of us, in the end, came from somewhere else. Who know that people coming together from different backgrounds become stronger for it. Who know that love trumps hate. They've already been eclipsed by displays from St. Albert residents, including a mother of two who took to the same spot on St. Albert Trail on Monday with a positive message.

So really, how much space do three dunces standing on a street corner waving signs of hate really deserve in your head? Or in these pages?

It’s hard to strike a balance between covering something of obvious interest and news value to our community and playing into the hands of those actively seeking publicity for their despicable actions.

But it’s important not to play their game. We don’t feed the trolls.

That’s why you won’t see this person’s name in our coverage. St. Albertans need to know what happened: that awful people did awful things in our public space, and tried (and failed) to make our community look awful by association.

But he won’t get what he’s really looking for here.

To our anonymous troll, maybe we can put it in words you’ll understand: Go back where you came from. And stay there.

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