Rachel Gilmore Profile picture
Jul 19 9 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
🚨🚨🚨This is a big deal!!!

I’ve independently verified that this user is a former Shopify employee.

They’re violating their contract and becoming a whistleblower, alleging some of the top ranks of Shopify may be making some worrying ideological decisions.
A little while back, I interviewed Shopify employees (with promised anonymity - they feared losing their jobs).

They expressed concerns about Shopify’s decision to work with LibsofTikTok

There was an internal outcry that appeared to fall on deaf ears.
globalnews.ca/news/9294721/s…
As part of that investigation, I was sent a copy of a memo Shopify circulated to employees after it was revealed that they were providing services to Brietbart.

That memo was titled: “Why it might be hard for you to work for Shopify.” Image
It details a “tension” Shopify employees have to “hold” between “opposing ideas that may need to co-exist.”

Shopify makes a “deliberate tradeoff” to “enable more opportunity,” particularly for those “whoʼve historically been shut out or shut down by prevailing economic systems.” Image
Disagree?

You can talk to your boss about whether you can “continue to feel engaged” at Shopify.

To me, that reads like you can leave the job.

But what is that tradeoff?

Shopify says makes sure merchants 1) adhere to the law and 2) don’t violate the Acceptable Use Policy. Image
But when you look at who Shopify provides services to, it's unclear how they interpret that AUP.

I looked into the source code of a number of websites – including some first flagged by @nandoodles – and found that Shopify provides merchant services to some very sketchy stores.
Like stores selling Nazi merchandise (see below)

It also works withwebsites like the Daily Wire, which sells transphobic products.

For example, the Daily Wire sells a chocolate bar that’s a direct backlash to the inclusion of a trans woman in a Hershey’s campaign.


Image
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This might be a good time to point who is in the upper ranks at Shopify.

Shopify’s COO is Kaz Nejatian, a fired staffer of Jason Kenney’s who is married to Candice Malcolm – top dog at True North.

Here’s an example of True North’s content, and Kaz saying he likes their work:
Image
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All in all, it appears that Shopify is helping some far-right folks to monetize and profit from transphobic products -- despite internal protests.

Now there's a whistleblower.

I think this is a story to watch.

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More from @atRachelGilmore

Jan 6
Jordan Peterson uploaded a document with screenshots of the complaints made against him to the College of Psychologists.

The first allegation is that he, a licensed psychologist, made a joke about suicide directed at someone on Twitter.

Here's what else it shows.

Strap in.
A tweet from Peterson during the "Freedom Convoy," when he "opined" children's aid didn't need to get involved.

Psychologists have to report when a child is in need of protection.

The complaint alleges the tweet undermined public trust in Peterson's judgement in this regard.
These screenshots summarize the documents the college looked at while investigating him (including tweets and Joe Rogan appearances).

They also show a summary of the college's key concerns, which included whether he was sharing fake info and tweeting harassment/abuse.
Read 18 tweets
Jan 4
I'd like to see a fuller representation of the tweets that got Jordan Peterson in trouble with the College of Psychologists.

For example, this piece fails to mention whether his professional association took issue with this one: Image
I want to know what "criticized" means here, and what the "joke" was that he references.

He also says this goes well beyond political tweets and includes his comments about weight issues, climate change, women, and trans folks. ImageImageImage
What's at stake here is Peterson's ability to clinically practice psychology -- treat patients -- something he says in the column he stopped *on his own* in 2017, because his "rising notoriety or fame made continuing as a private therapist practically and ethically impossible."
Read 5 tweets
Jan 4
When I was in Tunisia during Ramadan, there was this moment at a café with friends.

It was about midnight, and we sat there, drinking Turkish coffee and and laughing our asses off at the guy going table to table roasting the patrons.

No one was drinking, and it was a blast.
I was surprised at how novel it felt -- I couldn't think of anywhere back home where I could hang out, at midnight, in a room full of sober people.

It would be cool if there were more late-night spaces like that here, where the main activity isn't to have drinks.
I think it would really help people who struggle with social isolation when they realize they have a problem with alcohol/go sober.

I'm not saying it's bad to serve booze (I love a gin and soda), but I wish we had more late-night options than drinking at Irish pubs and clubs!
Read 4 tweets
Nov 23, 2022
The Commissioner of the Emergencies Act inquiry has dismissed Freedom Corp's request to have Brian Fox appear before the inquiry.

"Having carefully reviewed the information provided by Freedom Corp., I conclude that this is, in essence, a fishing expedition," Rouleau wrote.
The request also asked to have three others present evidence: Enterprise Canada, David Chan and Shawn Folkes.

Enterprise is Fox's employer, Chan is a freelance photographer, and Folkes -- who identified Fox in an affidavit.
This part is WILD:

Folkes said he saw a man holding a Nazi flags at the protest on Jan. 29 and "attempted to speak with him."

It was only *after* watching Miller's examinations on Nov. 21 that, the same day, he went to Enterprise's website and identified Mr. Fox.
Read 8 tweets
Nov 23, 2022
Today, I wrote a story about LGBTQ2 leaders calling on @Shopify to drop Libs of TikTok as a vendor.

Shopify said Libs of TikTok selling products plastered with “stop grooming our kids” doesn’t break rules against hate.

Meanwhile, my inbox after this story:

TW: Transphobia
In Canada, police reported 263 hate crimes targeting sexual orientation in 2019 — a 41 per cent increase from the preceding year, and the highest number since 2009, according to Statistics Canada.
Violent crimes accounted for “more than half” of the hate crimes targeting sexual orientation, it found, compared to one-quarter of hate crimes targeting religion including violence.
Read 5 tweets
Nov 22, 2022
Brendan Miller, the counsel representing Freedom Corp., had claimed during comments made at the commission that an employee of the government relations firm Enterprise Canada, Brian Fox, was carrying a Nazi flag during the protests earlier this year.
In a cease and desist letter sent to Miller and published on Enterprise Canada's Twitter on Tuesday, lawyer Jeff Galway from Blakes, Cassels and Graydon said the "unfounded accusation" is "highly defamatory."
"His most recent visit to Ottawa, to the best of his recollection, was to attend the Manning conservative action conference in 2019," it added.

The letter went on to say that Fox was "not involved" in the “Freedom Convoy” protests.
Read 5 tweets

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