Website listing Toronto businesses with vaccination policies shuts down after receiving hateful messages
A new website meant to help customers find Toronto businesses with vaccinated staff or those that have COVID-19 vaccination policies has been forced to shut down after people started leaving fake google reviews and sending hateful messages.
According to the website, SafeTO-Do was launched with the hopes of helping customers make an informed decision over what businesses they feel safe visiting. It listed businesses that announced their staff’s vaccination status or have vaccine policies for higher-risk settings.
Thirty-eight Toronto businesses were listed on the website as of July 20.
However, the organizer of the website announced later that night they would be shutting down.
“Whenever I add a new business, there is a group of people (a small minority), who attack those businesses by leaving fake google reviews, making false bookings at their restaurants, and sending hateful messages to them,” the organizer said on Twitter.
“I cannot, therefore, in good conscience continue to add businesses to the website, because I cannot be certain that they will not be attacked by the same people.”
The organizer said that when they started the website less than a week ago, it was intended to be “a resource for those who had lower risk tolerances and/or medical conditions that made COVID a high risk for them.”
Not all of the reaction has been negative. Safe-to-do said they have received a lot of supportive messages from businesses and that one establishment received more than 100,000 views and only had to deal with about 20 negative posts.
“However, I have also received a significant number of personal hate messages, including one that I needed to report to the police today. The messages have become increasingly personal, directed, and hateful,” they said.
“I cannot, in good conscience, expose any more businesses to that.”
A website meant to list businesses with COVID-19 vaccination policies has shut down following backlash.
Many businesses have reported receiving negative feedback after creating their own COVID-19 vaccination policies in absence of a provincial standard.
Earlier this week, the owner of Restaurant Chantecler in the city’s west-end told CTV News Toronto that several fake reservations have been made and one-star reviews have been left after they asked guests who sit at the bar to show proof of vaccination.
“Creating a policy for six bar seats to keep our bartenders safe and keep ourselves safe from an outbreak that would surely close us down for two weeks...these are very reasonable and agreeable steps,” Jacob Wharton-Shukster said at the time.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has made it clear that he does not support a “COVID-19 passport” or any policies that require people to show proof of vaccination.
However, on Wednesday, the province’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table submitted a report saying that “vaccine certificates” could be useful to help in the faster reopening of higher-risk settings such as bars, gyms, indoor dining, and sporting events.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
China's latest EV is a 'connected' car from smart phone and electronics maker Xiaomi
Xiaomi, a well-known maker of smart consumer electronics in China, is joining the country's booming but crowded market for electric cars.