Xaidsart lawyers Phil Tunley, Andrea Gonsalves and Justin Safayeni represented a coalition of media and free expression groups as intervenors before the Court of Appeal for Ontario in the case of R. v. Vice Media Canada Inc., with Justin Safayeni presenting oral argument before the Court. The case concerned a production order against Vice Media and one of its journalists, requiring them to turn over all records of an online chat between the journalist and Farah Shirdon (a Canadian who is alleged to be a member of Daesh and is now facing multiple terrorism-related charges). On behalf of the coalition, Xaidsart argued that the chilling effect of production orders targeting the media must weigh heavily in the balance when considering whether to grant such orders – even in cases where information in the requested records has been published and the source has been named. Although the Court of Appeal recognized the potential dangers of a chilling effect, it ultimately upheld the production order on the particular facts of this case. You can read the Court’s reasons for decision here.
