Canada's largest internet providers have been ordered to block websites operated by anonymous anti-Israel activists targeting Indigo Books & Music Inc. for the next two years, according to a Federal Court ruling.Justice Janet Fuhrer granted the long-term blocking order after Indigo spent years pursuing activists behind websites that copied the bookseller's branding and accused the company and CEO Heather Reisman of complicity in Israel's actions in Gaza. Blacklock's Reporter said the activists behind the campaign have identified themselves as “your friendly faceless internet trolls.”“The only purpose of the websites” was to damage Indigo's business and reputation, including its trademarks, Fuhrer wrote in the ruling.The dispute dates to the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks in Israel. Reisman, who is Jewish, co-founded the HESEG Foundation, which provides scholarships to former Israel Defense Forces soldiers without immediate family in Israel.Activists subsequently created a website called Indigo Kills Kids that closely resembled Indigo's own online branding and called for a boycott of the retailer.The campaign accused Indigo of “aiding in the slaughter of Palestinians” and used a design resembling the company's IndigoKids logo. The campaign has said its criticism centres on Reisman's connection to HESEG.“As the people of Gaza are currently facing genocide we have a moral obligation to name and hold accountable companies that are aiding in the slaughter of Palestinians,” the anonymous authors wrote.Indigo called the allegations “deliberate and malicious” and alleged violations of the Copyright Act and Trademarks Act.The Federal Court initially granted Indigo an emergency injunction in September 2024 blocking access to the campaign's website.The order triggered what the court described as a cat-and-mouse exercise..“The plaintiff discovered that as of September 19, 2024 less than 48 hours after the interim order was issued, the contents from the domains reappeared at BoycottIndigoBooks.com, a new domain, indicating this was ‘a temporary parking spot,’” Fuhrer wrote. “The new domain hosts a website that is nearly identical.”Under the two-year order, Indigo can submit additional domain names for blocking if it provides evidence showing they are being operated by the same activists for the same purpose.“A domain blocking or site blocking order is a form of injunctive relief enjoining internet service providers to block their subscribers’ attempts to access infringing domains and related content on the internet,” Fuhrer wrote.Reisman has also faced political criticism over HESEG.New Democrat MP Heather McPherson sponsored Petition E-6783, which called on federal authorities to investigate the foundation.The petition received 10,182 signatures, according to the records cited in the court-related reporting. The Department of Public Safety did not comment.
