January 6, 2015
By Joe Lofaro
The federal government blocked hundreds of thousands of public servants from accessing an Ottawa-based independent news website last summer, according to a report in Blacklock’s Reporter.
The reporter-owned website covering Parliament Hill published a story online Tuesday stating Shared Services Canada restricted access to Blacklocks.ca from Aug. 22 to Sept. 9, 2014.
Redacted documents obtained by the news agency through an Access to Information request reportedly show the government department’ IT staff concealed the rationale for blocking employees from accessing Blacklock’s.
In a statement to Metro, Shared Services spokesperson Ted Francis said a “potential cyber threat” to government infrastructure was detected on the Blacklock’s website.
“The threat was subsequently rectified. Access to Blacklocks.ca was restored,” wrote Francis. No other details were provided in the statement to explain what the threat was or how it posed any danger.
Blacklock’s publisher Holly Doan called the move “outrageous conduct.”
“It’s astonishing to see Canada join the short list of countries that forbid public employees from accessing internet news sites,” Doan said. “This is not only Orwellian, it appears to breach the government’s own guidelines on workplace internet use.”
Metro has requested comment from Diane Finley, the minister responsible for Public Works and Government Services.
The Canadian Association of Journalists also criticized Shared Services’ apparent blocking of Blacklock’s, which it noted is a Parliamentary Press Gallery-accredited news organization. CAJ has asked Shared Services for more clarity on the incident.
“Shared Services Canada never should have stopped anyone on the public payroll from lawfully reading Blacklock’s reporting,” said CAJ president, Hugo Rodrigues. “The department only rescinded the order after subscribers spoke up and journalists started asking questions. Blacklock’s deserves an explanation.”
Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre
Is there Censorship in Canada?