Did online rhetoric lead to violence in the classroom?

In today’s Big Story podcast, last week, three people were stabbed inside a classroom at the University of Waterloo. Police say the crime was motivated by hate, and that a gender studies class was specifically targeted.

Anti-feminist and anti-2SLGBTQ+ rhetoric has been growing harsher and more violent in recent years.

Dr. Shana MacDonald is an Associate Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo. She co-author of an analysis in The Conversation about rhetoric online leading to violence offline.

“I’d say in the last probably two to three years, it’s gotten particularly startling,” said MacDonald. “When those things aren’t stopped online or there’s no consequence, that very easily spills into our everyday lives.”

So, was it only a matter of time until something like this happened in Canada? How does a simple word like ‘gender’ become a red flag to disturbed individuals? What’s stochastic terrorism and what can we do to stop it?

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