Social media outrage machine strikes in CityNews reporter prank

The fallout from a CityNews reporter’s willingness to take a stand against an Internet prank proves that in the age of social media, it’s almost impossible to get away with anything.

On Tuesday afternoon, Hydro One issued as statement saying it was taking steps to fire an employee who it said was one of the Toronto FC fans caught on video bothering reporter Shauna Hunt on Sunday afternoon. Within 48 hours of the man claiming his antics were "hilarious and his mom would "die laughing – eventually,” his employer said he would be fired for violating the company’s code of conduct.

HydroOne later confirmed the firing with the Toronto Star.

“Regarding the incident at the Toronto FC game between a (CityNews) reporter and fans, Hydro One is taking steps to terminate the employee involved for violating our Code of Conduct,” said Daffyd Roderick, director, corporate affairs for Hydro One.

“Respect for all people is engrained in the Code of Conduct and in our Core Values and we are committed to a work environment where discrimination or harassment of any type is met with zero tolerance.”

Roderick identified the employee as Shawn Simoes, an assistant network management engineer who made $106,510.50 a year.

The firing is the first piece of tangible fallout from the report, although it’s not the first time there has been a followup effect for participants in a “FHRITP” prank.

Last November, a Pennsylvania man was arrested after interrupting a TV report.

In an age of mishaps like Justine Sacco (who made a stupid AIDS joke before getting on a plane to Africa, giving all of Twitter hours to vilify her before she could do anything about it), it’s bewildering why anyone would willfully seek out a TV camera to act like an idiot.

Journalist Jon Ronson has a new book, “So You’ve Been Publily Shamed,” that outlines the devastating effects of being outed for stupid online deeds. And there’s an argument to be made that the impact of online shaming, in the form of doxxing (the act of publishing an offender’s private personal details), harassment and general outrage, is often disproportionate to the crime.

That doesn’t explain participants in “FHRITP” pranks, who are actively seeking out attention on camera. In the case of the two Toronto FC fans interviewed by Hunt on Sunday, they weren’t remorseful; they seemed to be daring her to do something about it.

And yet, neither of the two men recorded on camera had actually done anything, other than admit to Hunt that they were planning on interrupting a broadcast, possibly hers. For that, one is being fired, and the other, who may have been identified by Internet sleuths, is likely to face similar public shaming, for the offence, basically, of not seeming contrite when they were called out for their behaviour.

While the television appearance certainly drove the story, it was the online world that blew it up, eliminating the opportunity for the duo to apologize or manage what happened next. Hunt's tweet was retweeted 1400 times and mentioned on Twitter over 2200 times in one day.

In the end, it’s a scary, if important, lesson: in the connected world, there’s nothing that’s out of reach of the long arm of the Internet.