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Type of site | Politics |
|---|---|
| Available in | Canadian English |
| Headquarters | Toronto,Ontario[1] |
| Owner | Ezra Levant |
| Founder(s) | Ezra Levant,Brian Lilley |
| CEO | Ezra Levant |
| Key people | Lawrence Solomon,Raheel Raza (Advisory Board) |
| URL | RebelNews.com |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 16 February 2015; 10 years ago (2015-02-16) |
| Current status | Active |
Rebel News (also known asThe Rebel Media andThe Rebel) is a Canadianfar-right[2] political andsocial commentary media website operated by Rebel News Network Ltd. It has been described as a "global platform" for theanti-Muslim ideology known ascounter-jihad.[3][4] It was founded in February 2015 by formerSun News Network personalitiesEzra Levant andBrian Lilley.
Rebel News broadcasts its content only on the internet and has been compared toBreitbart News in the US.[9]Rebel News has been described as being part of thealt-right movement.[10][11][12]
Former Sun News reporterFaith Goldy joinedRebel News after its launch,[13] but was fired for her coverage of the2017 Charlottesville rally and for conducting an interview withThe Daily Stormer.[14] A co-founder and two freelancers resigned in protest of the coverage.[15]Gavin McInnes, founder of the far-rightneo-fascist[16][17][18] organizationProud Boys, was a contributor. McInnes departed in 2017, then temporarily rejoined the site for a period in 2019.[19][20] In the midst of the2021 Canadian federal election,Justin Trudeau accusedRebel News of spreadingmisinformation, especially with regards toCOVID-19 vaccines.[21][22][23]Rebel News has promotedclimate change denial.[24]
Prior to the official opening of the media franchise operation as a corporation, it operated for a number of years as an individual effort by Levant, who styled himself "The Rebel." At least one of his ideas, to fight "anti-Christian bigots onNanaimo city council," attracted support from university student and now Member of ParliamentDane Lloyd.[25]
The Rebel Media was formed by Levant and Lilley following the closure of the Sun News Network. Levant said that his online production would be unencumbered by the regulatory and distribution difficulties faced by Sun News Network and that its lower production costs would make it more viable.[26] Levant has citedBreitbart News, the American far-right news website, as an inspiration.[27] Acrowdfunding campaign raised roughlyCA$100,000 for the project.[28] The site soon attracted a number of other former Sun News Network personalities such as David Menzies, Paige MacPherson, Faith Goldy,Patrick Moore and, briefly, Michael Coren.[29]
In the summer of 2015, the channel, led by Levant, launched a campaign to boycottTim Hortons, a chain of Canadian coffee shops, after it rejected in-store ads fromEnbridge due to complaints from customers opposed to the oil pipeline projects being promoted by the ads.[30]
In early 2016, theAlberta government banned The Rebel Media's correspondents from press briefings on the grounds that, because Ezra Levant had testified in court in 2014 that he was a columnist or commentator rather than a reporter, none of his current correspondents could be considered to be journalists. On 17 February 2016, the government admitted that it made a mistake and said that it would allow The Rebel Media correspondents into press briefings.[31]The Canadian Association of Journalists supported preventing government from choosing journalism coverage."[32]
In late 2016, after first being refused press accreditation for theUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)COP22 Climate Change Conference, Rebel Media was allowed to send two correspondents to COP22. Levant wrote that "We're not being excluded because we have an opinion. We're being excluded because we have the wrong opinion."[33][34] Rebel Media received support from theEnvironment MinisterCatherine McKenna and three journalism organizations in getting the UNFCC to grant this access,[33] after Levant's October 17 appeal to Justin Trudeau.[35]
Following theQuebec City mosque shooting of 2017, Rebel Media and Levant in particular were harshly criticized in theNational Observer for their reporting and pursuing "a narrative about violence by immigrants," though the shooting was committed by the far-right Alexandre Bissonnette. Kai Nagata noted "Levant and Goldy were both speakers at a rally in Toronto last week organized by The Rebel to protest a motion by Liberal MPIqra Khalid, which calls on the government to condemn Islamophobia'" in response to the shooting.[36]
In 2017, Rebel Media hired far-right activistTommy Robinson, founder of the avowedly anti-IslamicEnglish Defence League, as its British correspondent.
In March 2017, one of their correspondents,Gavin McInnes, made controversial comments defendingHolocaust deniers, accused the Jews of being responsible for theHolodomor and theTreaty of Versailles, and said he was "becoming anti-Semitic". He later said his comments were taken out of context.[37] McInnes also produced a satirical[38] video for Rebel called "Ten Things I Hate about Jews", later retitled "Ten Things I Hate About Israel".[39][40] Rebel also hosted a video by McInnes in which he encouraged viewers to brawl againstantifa as his group theProud Boys did, saying, "When they go low, go lower."[41]
During the2017 French Presidential Election,Jack Posobiec, The Rebel Media's Washington, D.C. bureau chief, supported far-right leaderMarine Le Pen and played a role in the2017 Macron e-mail leaks.[42]
On 12 August 2017, Rebel correspondentFaith Goldy reported from theUnite the Right Rally inCharlottesville, Virginia. Broadcasting onlivestream, she gained clear footage of afatal car attack by a white supremacist against left-wing protestors. Interviewed about the rally and the clip byIsrael'sChannel 2 News, Goldy opined that, "there is a "culture war" happening between the hard left and hard right and that "many on both sides see this as a civil war – you know the fascists vs. the communists."[43][44]
On Monday August 14, Rebel founder Ezra Levant denounced the element of the "alt-right" which had participated in the rally, stating that it "now effectively means racism, anti-Semitism and tolerance of neo-Nazism."[44]The same day Brian Lilley announced his departure from Rebel News, writing, "What anyone from The Rebel was doing at a so-called 'unite the right' rally that was really an anti-Semitic white power rally is beyond me. Especially not a rally dedicated to keeping up a statue ofRobert E. Lee, a man that whatever else he stood for, also fought on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of America's bloodiest conflict."[43] Lilley said he had become uncomfortable with what he felt was an "increasingly harsh tone" when The Rebel discussed topics such asimmigration orIslam. He accused The Rebel of exhibiting a "lack of editorial and behavioural judgment that left unchecked will destroy it and those around it."[44]
Less than a week after the rally, on August 17 Levant fired Goldy from Rebel News when it had emerged that she'd joined a podcast produced byThe Daily Stormer in which she appeared to support the rally's right-wing participants.[45] In the course of reporting on the Unite the Right rally, Goldy argued that they suggested a wider "rising white racial consciousness" in America and characterizing a manifesto bywhite supremacistRichard Spencer that called for organizing states along racial lines as "robust" and "well thought-out."[14]
FreelancersBarbara Kay and John Robson also quit the Rebel, and the company was denounced by Conservative MPMichael Chong,[46]Chris Alexander,[15]Peter Kent,Lisa Raitt, and former interim leaderRona Ambrose had previously disavowed the site.[47]
Brian Jean,Jason Kenney, andDoug Schweitzer of theUnited Conservative Party of Alberta expressed dissatisfaction with the Rebel's editorial direction over the preceding months and said they would not grant interviews to the company.[46][48] Jean dropped his boycott of the Rebel in August 2022 and agreed to an interview about hisleadership campaign for the United Conservative Party.[49]
Gavin McInnes left the Rebel at the end of August 2017. Levant wrote "We tried to keep him, but he was lured away by a major competitor that we just couldn't outbid" in an email to the independent news siteCanadaland.[50][45] In February 2019, after suing theSouthern Poverty Law Center for allegedly damaging his reputation and career prospect by characterizing the Proud Boys as ahate group, McInnes announced that he had once again been hired by the media group.
British contributor Caolan Robertson no longer works for the Rebel.[45] Robertson claims he was fired for "knowing too much" about the Rebel's finances, claiming the company dishonestly solicited donations for projects that were already funded and concealing how that money was spent.[45] He also claimed that Southern[clarification needed] was fired for refusing to tape a fundraising appeal for the Rebel's Israel trip after fundraising targets had already been met. Robertson also played audio of Levant offering him thousands of dollars of what Levant himself called "hush money." Levant denies these allegations and says he will present evidence opposing this in court, claiming that he was being "blackmailed" by Robertson and his partner.[51][52][53] Levant has since briefly talked about The Rebel's finances in his online show and released a summary on The Rebel's website.[54][55] It was reported that the settlement was negotiated byKory Teneycke, who was formerly director of communication for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.[56]
During the 2017 Conservative Party leadership race, many contenders, including the eventual leadership winnerAndrew Scheer, gave interviews to the outlet.[57]
After the 2017 Conservative Party leadership race, it was revealed that Scheer's campaign manager Hamish Marshall's IT firm Torch provided IT services to The Rebel Media. In 2015, Marshall told theNational Observer that he was only involved in the business side of the Rebel.[58] Marshall explained to that he had left the Rebel after the leadership race ended to avoid aconflict of interest.[59] In September 2017, Marshall's name was removed from the list of directors of The Rebel Media on the federal government's online registry of corporate information.[58] On 16 October 2017,The Globe and Mail asked Scheer if he knew that Hamish Marshall shared office space with the Rebel during the leadership campaign. Scheer replied that he did not ask Marshall about his firm's many clients. Later, a spokesperson clarified that Scheer did not know the specifics of the arrangement. Levant explained that Marshall's IT firm Torch provided client services for the Rebel.[60] A 2017National Post article argued that Marshall implemented the Rebel donation system.[27] Scheer toldMaclean's in 2018 that Marshall's past relationship with the Rebel should not be conflated with his selection as campaign chair.[61]
Scheer denounced the outlet due to its coverage of theUnite the Right rally,[62] and stated that he would stop doing interviews with The Rebel Media until its "editorial directions" changed.[45][57] A day later, Scheer stated that he would not be granting interviews with the Rebel going forward, in an interview with theNational Post.[63]
On September 30, 2019, two police forces escorted Rebel Media correspondent David Menzies away from a Scheer campaign announcement.[64]
Beginning in May 2017, the Rebel was the target of aboycott campaign by the social media activist groupSleeping Giants whereby advertisers were pressured to withdraw their adverts from The Rebel Media's YouTube channel and website. Within a three-month period in 2017, the activist group claimed that the Rebel had lost approximately 300 advertisers, includingCCM Hockey,Mountain Equipment Co-op,Red Lobster,Reitmans,Penguin Books Canada,Volkswagen Canada andTangerine Bank,[65] along withPetSmart, theHudson's Bay Company,General Motors Canada, theRoyal Canadian Mint, theNova Scotia Liquor Corporation,Ottawa Tourism,Porter Airlines, andWhistler Blackcomb ski resort.[66]
In June 2017, the city council ofEdmonton, following complaints on social media from multiple residents, pulled its online advertisements from Rebel News. City councillor Michael Oshry described content on the website as "hate mongering, or even racist".[67]
Another activist group,Hope not Hate, pressuredNorwegian Cruise Lines into cancelling a scheduled Caribbean cruise which was to feature talks by The Rebel Media personalities, many of whom have since left the media website.[45]
In December 2017, Wells Asset Management announced the Rebel Freedom Fund, allowing investors to fund Levant's film and video projects, offering an expected 4.5% return.[68] This attracted news coverage the following February in advance of the fund's ostensible 1 March opening date, generally negative;MoneySense, for example, stated that "This one carries a lot of risk and doesn't clear theMoneySense bar for appropriate retirement investment risk, whatever the political orientation."[69][70] In June, however, Wells announced that it was shutting down all its funds, and when queried by a reporter fromMaclean's, stated that the Rebel Freedom Fund had never launched.[71]
The writs of election for the2019 Canadian federal election were issued byGovernor GeneralJulie Payette on September 11, 2019, and the 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. The leadership debates were held on 7 October in English and 10 October in French.[72][73]
On September 30, 2019, two police forces escorted Rebel Media correspondent David Menzies away from a Scheer campaign announcement.[64]
In twin lawsuits (both filed during the morning of 7 October), Menzies and another journalist atRebel News and Andrew James Lawton ofTrue North Centre for Public Policy applied for judicial relief related "to identical decisions made by theLeaders' Debates Commission. The Commission [had] denied accreditation" for the Leaders' Debates to the journalists. In a stinging rebuke to the Commission,Justice Russel Zinn found that afternoon that "the Applicants have proven on the balance of probabilities that they will suffer irreparable harm if the requested Order is not granted" and thus Zinn ordered that the journalist-Applicants be accorded the same rights as the legacy media.[72] The journalists were allowed equitable access to the media scrum that evening of 7 October after the debate.[73]
In 2021, theCommissioner of Elections finedRebel News $3,000 for violating third-party campaign advertising laws. The commissioner found that signs made by the organization to promote Levant's bookThe Libranos, which featured an image of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Liberals parodyingThe Sopranos ought to have been registered as third-party advertising because they clearly opposed a leader during a campaign. Half of the fine was for failing to register and the other half of the fine was for not disclosing the organization behind the signage.Rebel News's application forjudicial review of the decision was dismissed by theFederal Court in 2023 and by theFederal Court of Appeal in 2025.[74]
As early as 2019 it was noticed that Levant had used Rebel Media to promoteclimate change denial and advocate the interests of theoil sands extraction industry inAlberta.[24] In an article forCanada's National Observer, columnist Max Fawcett described Rebel Media as a group who undermine "the scientific consensus around climate change and vaccines".[21]
During the September2021 Canadian federal election, theLeaders' Debates Commission, which was at the time chaired by former Governor-GeneralDavid Johnston,[75] again disallowed members ofRebel News from receiving accreditation to the French and English language debates. Ahead of the French language debate, an expedited ruling by JusticeElizabeth Heneghan allowed 11 members ofRebel News to attend the two debates to ask questions.[76][75] Levant, whose organization had accused the commission of being "capricious, unfair, unlawful and arbitrary in denying its journalists the right to fully cover the debate" said "Today we scored one for liberty."[75]
Justice Heneghan published herratio decidendi in case number T-1364-21 on 7 March 2022, and wrote that "In my opinion, the Applicant established irreparable harm in terms of being prevented from participation in the political process, on behalf of the electorate. There is room in the nation for the expression of opposing points of view. The Applicant did not ask to impose its views, but for the opportunity to participate in coverage of matters of importance during a federal election."[77]
When asked a question byRebel News following the French debate, Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau attacked the organization for spreadingmisinformation, especially with regards toCOVID-19 vaccines and refused to "call it a media organization". The clip of the interaction went viral.[23][21] NDP leaderJagmeet Singh andBloc Québécois leaderYves-François Blanchet refused to speak toRebel News.[23][78]
In December 2021,Rebel News fundraised to pay for the legal fees of Mehmet Erhan, anAdelaide, Australia resident who was arrested and charged with breaching a health order. The money was to be paid intoRebel News's Fight the Fines fund instead of Erhan'sGoFundMe account.Rebel News later cut ties with Erhan, saying that they had discontinued their relationship as Erhan had allegedly "routinely switched lawyers" and acted in bad faith.[79]
In early 2022Rebel News provided favourable coverage of theCanada convoy protest and theConvoy to Canberra, with many of its posts linking to donation pages or fundraising campaigns.Similarweb found that the number of Canadians accessing theRebel News website had increased by 70% between January and February 2022. Australian traffic increased by 11% over the same time period.[80]
Elise Thomas of theInstitute for Strategic Dialogue said that groups likeRebel News were utilising theanti-vaccine andanti-lockdown communities to "reinvigorate their following", saying, "The thing about these kind of fringe communities is that they are often really hyper-engaged communities, they're not getting this content anywhere else in their life".[80]
On September 19, 2024, theFederal Court of Canada ruled that Rebel News was ineligible for Canadian journalism tax credits due to insufficient original reporting. The ruling followed a review of 423 Rebel News pieces by theCanada Revenue Agency (CRA), which found that only 10 met the standards required for original journalistic content.[81]
Justice Ann Marie McDonald stated that "283 of the items were not based on facts, nor were multiple perspectives actively pursued, researched, analyzed, or explained by a journalist for the organization", and a further 135 were categorized as curated or rewritten content from other sources.[82]
The court found that the CRA's decision was "justified, transparent and intelligible", noting that much of Rebel News's output consisted of opinion or republished material. The court also rejected Rebel News's argument that the denial infringed on press freedom, stating that the outlet failed to demonstrate how the ruling harmed its operations.[81]
In 2015, he establishedRebel Media, a far-right outlet that regularly features global and domestic "stars" of the nationalist movement.
Far-right Twitter accounts come and go, often generating significant traction without any obvious relation to organised movements. As a stage of his reinvention of self after the EDL, its leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon ('Tommy Robinson') reinvented himself as a journalist, working for the Canadian far-right media company Rebel Media.
The Rebel Media, a far-right news organization, published articles by Canadian alt-right propagandists such as: "Want to sop cultural Marxist indoctrination? Cut public funding of universities" (Nicholas 2017); "Social justice is socialism in disguise" (Goldy 2016); and "How progressives use our kids for Marxist social experiments" (Goldy 2017).
Far-right Canadian media outlets, for instance, have bombarded its subscribers with all kinds of pro-Trump, racist and xenophobic dialogue, both before and after Trump's victory. Rebel Media, a popular far-right online media platform run by Ezra Levant, a controversial Canadian far-right political activist, writer and broadcaster, has been an outright supporter of Trump, publishing countless extreme-right leaning articles on why to support him.
Beyond US-based far-right news websites such asBreitbart,Infowars andEpoch Times, other alternative online media outlets include Australia-basedXYZ andThe Unshackled, Canada-basedRebel News and UK-basedPoliticalite.com andPoliticalUK.co.uk, just to name a few, which operate as far-right metapolitical channels and counter-publics that strive to influence mainstream culture and discourse (Holt, 2019).
All four, including Robinson himself, were employees of The Rebel Media, a Toronto-based far-right website
The Rebel Media has more than one million subscribers on YouTube, and is often described as the home of an anti-Muslim ideology it calls "counter-jihad".
The theory, that the pandemic is a global conspiracy to allow world leaders to reset the planet, remained niche until picked up by Rebel News, a Canadian equivalent of Breitbart News.
Key alt-right media players, such as Ezra Levant, moved to social media, where their online audience is comparable to those of legacy media such as CBC, CTV, and Global. Levant's network, Rebel News, has launched numerous alt-right figures, becoming an incubator for a certain kind of media celebrity status important to the alt-right globally.
In June 2017, he was fired from Rebel Media, a Canadian alt-right media outlet...
The reality is, organizations — organizations like yours — that continue to spread misinformation and disinformation on the science around vaccines … is part of why we're seeing such unfortunate anger and lack of understanding of basic science," he said. "Frankly, your — I won't call it a media organization — your group of individuals need to take accountability for some of the polarization that we're seeing in this country.
After the network failed, Levant launched his online platform, Rebel Media, where he has continued to champion right-wing causes: critiquing provincial NDP policies, denying climate change, condemning federal immigration policies, and advocating for the Alberta oil and gas industry.
Levant suggested that the The[sic] Rebel — which publishes coverage of environment issues that often exhibits or promotes climate change skepticism
Having joined the site in January of 2018, Hopkins's tenure lasted nearly a full year. Former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka, Rebel Media's other high-profile get last year, stuck around for just two and a half months.
Ms Southern, who worked for far right Canadian site The Rebel Media, was held by Border Force in Coquelles on Monday.
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