The Media Goes After Canadian Truckers’ Donors

Several major media outlets have run stories over the past few days on the identities of individuals funding the “Freedom Convoy,” including names of donors that leaked during a hack of crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.

Hackers breachedGiveSendGo leaked personal information about approximately 90,000 Freedom Convoy donors late Sunday night. This included names, email addresses, and ZIP codes. The site hosting the leaked data provided it to “journalists and researchers” upon request.

The New York Times ranMonday’s story examined the leaked donor data in order to make conclusions about who was funding Freedom Convoy protests. The Times included the names of donors who had contributed large sums to the convoy fundraiser as well as comments from several donors.

The story also quotes messages attached to the donations, including one characterized by the Times as “menacing.” The Times did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

The Washington Post publishedA similar story was published late Tuesday, which also included the full names and addresses of donors. The Post’s story analyzed the U.S. ZIP codes that contributed the most money to the GiveSendGo fundraiser and included comments from donors.

According to the article, the publication reached out to individuals who had contributed as low as $50 to Freedom Convoy’s fundraiser.

“We were reporting on a matter of public interest and reached out to people listed in the data in order to confirm its authenticity. We named a large number of people who provided information. We named two people who did not respond to requests for comment,” Shani George, the Post’s vice president of communications, told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “In both cases, they are or had been government officials. A third person was named in the article and was publicly listed on GiveSendGo. We have conducted similar investigations in the past.”

Numerous individuals whose names were in the leaked donor lists have already been subject to harassment and negative consequences.

Tammy Giuliani, who donated $250 for the Freedom Convoy fundraiser told the Ottawa Citizen that she had been forced to close her business after receiving threats from individuals angry over her contribution. Marion Isabeau-Ringuette, communications director for the Ontario solicitor general, “no longer works” for the state government after her donation to the Freedom Convoy was revealed, accordingToronto CityNews

Canadian newspapers also published stories trying to identify Freedom Convoy donors’ origins and identities.

The Toronto Star publishedA Monday article analyzed the leaked data to determine how much of the Freedom Convoy’s donations came from outside Canada. The National Post identified several donors already well-known to the convoy in an article. storyPublished Monday, although the article did not identify any lower-level donors. Global News wrote an entire story about one Canadian company’s $75,000 donation.

The Toronto Star, National Post, and Global News did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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