PQ seeks injunction against mysterious ‘racist’ website
The Parti Québécois is seeking to shut down a website that pretends to be linked to the political party and highlights past quotes made by its leader and a controversial candidate in Monday’s election.
In a request for an injunction filed earlier this week, the PQ also called for the Directeur général des élections du Québec to investigate the source of the website serieusement.fun. The PQ points out that the website uses its logo and a layout similar to its own, including the familiar shade of blue associated with the party for years.
“What is more, the statements posted by the internet site ‘serieusement.fun’ constitute defamatory, racist and false statements that the Parti Québécois cannot accept and should denounce,” the party stated in its request.
“I’m all for parodies and satire, but when you use our trademark without changing it, people might think it’s real. There’s a line between parody and using our logo without modifying it,” PQ leader Jean-François Lisée said on Friday while campaigning. “They can do all the parodies they want, but the PQ logo belongs to the PQ. You can laugh at us all you want, go for it, we love humour.”
The parties named in the request for the injunction are the mysterious party behind the website, known to the PQ only as “John Doe,” a public domain registry based in Mumbai and service provider in Florida. The PQ alleges the online service provider in Florida is being used to hide who is actually behind the website.
The request also includes a paragraph in which the party highlights a section of the website titled “j’ai besoin d’inspiration,” which the PQ states “cannot be tolerated” because it gives the false impression that the party is the website’s author.
That part of the website contains controversial quotes that have been attributed in the past to Lisée and Michelle Blanc, the PQ party’s candidate in the Mercier riding. One quote was from Lisée’s leadership campaign in 2014 when he said some people in Africa carried AK-47 assault rifles under their burkas. Lisée later agreed the comment was out of line within the context of whether burkas are acceptable in Quebec.
The website also quotes a tweet attributed to Blanc before she was a candidate for public office. She referred to a Bell customer-service representative using a racial slur.
Blanc, who is a transgender woman, wrote that the Bell employee referred to her as “mister” because her voice sounds masculine.
“My response, your voice sounds African and I don’t call you little n---er,” Blanc wrote. On Friday, anyone who clicked on the “j’ai besoin d’inspiration” section could see the same quote.
“An irreparable prejudice will be committed if this internet site can continue to operate during the election campaign, which should culminate in a vote on Oct. 1, 2018,” the party wrote in its request while arguing “there is a risk to voters being induced by error on the true author of this false, defamatory and racist advertising.”
The PQ is also seeking $50,000 in moral and punitive damages, and asked that any judgment made on their request be published in French and English so it can be served to the website that is protecting serieusement.fun’s anonymity.
They can do all the parodies they want, but the PQ logo belongs to the PQ ... laugh at us all you want, go for it ...