Greenpeace campaigner sees uptick in hateful comments after Jane Fonda visit

A Greenpeace campaigner has seen a recent uptick in the amount of vitriolic comments he's received online after Jane Fonda's visit to the oilsands.

Mike Hudema posted a screenshot of a comment he received on Facebook Saturday night.

The comment is directed at Hudema and said "do the world a favour, put a gun barrel in your mouth, make sure it's loaded, and pull the trigger."

"My first reaction was really just disbelief," Hudema told CBC News.

Hudema said there has been a consistent stream of attacks online. His Facebook posts, which are public, shows many commenters calling the campaigner a "hypocrite" and other insults. But Hudema said recent insults were different.

"I try to shrug most of them off, but yesterday some of the comments really are just crossing the line," he said. "I just feel like that's one step too far."

There are a few groups on social media that are fuelling this type of discourse, Hudema said, and he said he thinks they have a reason.

"I think they do it to really polarize the debate," he said.

Hudema said these types of comments are common in the United States. "We've seen it happen in the U.S. quite a bit and I don't want to see it grow here in Alberta," he said.

"It really is starting to go too far. Too far, too often."