As social media becomes more and more prevalent in society, more and more people become victims of cyberbullying.
The disturbing trend has shifted to livestock producers who recently have been attacked by vegan activists online.
A young farmer in Quebec stated she became scared for her safety after vegan activists sent her death threats online. She said she had to change her account settings after receiving close to 100 hateful messages a day.
Michelle Miller, otherwise known as the “Farm Babe”, is an American farming advocate and social media influencer who has been a victim herself.
After posting a video calling out a staged video made by vegan activists, her social media profiles were bombarded with hateful messages. The messages included death threats, and some of them went as far as to wish cancer on Miller and her family.
‘It’s just crazy to me because you act like you’re so compassionate like you just care about animals so much, yet you wish death and cancer upon your fellow human beings” said Miller “Like isn’t that just insane?”
Trends like this have caused increased stress levels and mental health issues on a growing number of producers, forcing the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food to propose changes to the Criminal Code to include penalties against cyberbullying.
Miller said that the best way to prevent misinformation being spread and fueling these kinds of acts is to speak out and educate people on what is really happening on livestock farms.
