Community reaction to Vic Toews tell-all on Twitter

Several twitter users have swamped Public Safety Minister Vic Toews with tweets to keep him up to date on everything in their lives. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Several social media users have decided that if Public Safety Minister Vic Toews wants to know more about their lives, they might as well tell him more - by flooding his Twitter feed with every last mundane detail.

Using the hashtag #TellVicEverything, they unleashed a parade of minutiae on the sponsor of the controversial Bill C-30, which aims to grant police and intelligence agencies unprecedented powers to access Canadians' electronic communications and personal data, often without a warrant.

Morning @ToewsVic. I've showered, shaved, and made toast. The peanut butter was chunky. #TellVicEverything

-- Jason Carlin (@the2scoops) February 16, 2012

Ooops! I think I accidentally deleted an email. Can I get your copy, @ToewsVic? #TellVicEverything

-- Amara Possian (@amarapossian) February 17, 2012

Read more tweets here.

Support for the satirical protest was strong among the CBC community.

When we polled readers as to whether or not Internet irony is an effective form of protest, roughly 67 per cent said, "Yes. Satire has always been an effective means of speaking truth to power" (as of Friday evening).

Another 28 per cent said it can be, if coupled with other forms of protest.

These views were reflected in the comments.

• "Great to see Canada still has its ironic sense of humor. Suck it up Mr. Toews, you wanted it, now you got it." - NLcoaster
• "This is brilliant. An outstanding humorous response to a serious issue." - Son Of Krypton
• "A few days ago it appeared to me that this nasty legislation was all but a rubber stamp away from approval. But the events of the last two days have renewed my faith and reduced my concerns about complacency in Canadians . . . Ridicule and satire will save the day." - OMFriday
• "The bill smashes Canadian values. This response is quintessentially Canadian." - WendyWPG
  
• "This is so funny! I suggest those who Twitter let Mr. Harper and the rest of the crew in on it too. We could all email them everynight with the latest breaking in our lives too!" - marrian54
• "Regardless of your political stripes you have to admit this is hilarious." - Pegged

Others had less favourable reactions to the twitter protest.

• "Little children with nothing to do!" - imfedup
• "Does anyone really believe he gives a --- about twitter? Most MP's have their aides write for them if they do it at all. You are just wasting your time if you think he is actually reading them and getting p'd off. Old-fashioned email or calls will get more traction." - Ansey1
• "It's high time we had a "Adult only" twitter and another one for the sand box crowd." - Countlou
• "Anyone who looks to twitter to determine what is really going on in the world doesn't know a thing about twitter. Issues and topics are lightening fast fads that last only as long as the attention span of those on twitter.....which is extremely short." - BBBrian 

Others zoomed out and focused on debating the merits of the surveillance bill itself.

•  "We don't want amendments; we want this bill thrown out. This govt. just doesn't get it. None of this is in the best interest of Canadian Citizens, which is who they are supposed to represent." - TheFuzz
• "This could just as easily been a Liberal or NDP motion, so quit foaming at the mouth. The real issue is that this lunacy has to be stopped, regardless of whose stupid idea it is."- Bullit Rider
• "If anyone would take the time to bother reading the Bill - police can only get access to emails if they get a warrant . . . Get over yourselves, if you are not a serious offender - the police don't care about what you are doing." - Colin12345
• "If you have to sit there and wonder if someone is tracking you it takes away a huge piece of your identity and individuality. Am I going to arouse suspicion if I punch in 'thermite', '24 sussex', or 'hitman' into Google? . . . It's bound to trigger plenty of false positives before it's finer tuned." - n0meansn0
• "Yesterday he was blasting the firearms registry for collecting just one piece of information for law enforcement. Meanwhile, he is championing a law that will let law enforcement collect a whole lot more information about everyone." - uncanny
• "Ironic that many of the same people who complain about privacy rights are the same ones who are literally posting every little thing they do in their lives on their Facebook/twitter accounts. They are the same ones who are "checking in" from all sorts of places so its broadcast where you are and when you were there at all times." - Rockin

As always, thank you for following our coverage. Please feel free to comment on or challenge any of these points and continue the conversation below.

Related:

• Is internet irony an effective form of protest?
• Community reaction to controversial online surveillance bill
• Should Canadian ISPs be forced to hand over our customer data?