Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre’s official YouTube channel hid misogynistic tags in its videos dating back to 2018, according to an investigation by Global News.
Global News found that Poilievre’s channel had used it in 50 of its most recent videos. The tag in question, #mgtow, is an acronym for “Men Going Their Own Way,” an anti-feminist, misogynistic community that mainly exists online and is often used by the involuntary celibate or “incel” community.
The tag wasn’t visible to the videos’ viewers but was to the videos’ publisher. Global News verified the use of the tag using publicly-available software and by checking the video’s source code.
Poilievre’s team claimed they were unaware of the tag.
“The embedded tags were immediately removed once his office became aware of them. Obviously, Mr. Poilievre condemns misogyny and all forms of online hate,” explained spokesperson Sam Lilly in a statement to Global News.
They have since erased the tag from all of Poilievre’s videos.
In question period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on Poilievre to take responsibility and apologize.
“The Conservative leader has been purposefully using his videos to appeal to far-right, misogynistic online groups. These are anti-women movements and they have had devastating real-life consequences,” Trudeau said.
On Sept. 10, Poilievre won the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada with nearly 71% of the vote share on the first ballot.
