ABSTRACT
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, several online movements converged in reaction to health measures enacted by governments internationally and in Quebec, Canada. This chapter examines the confluence of microcelebrity and far-right populism via a portrait of Quebec-based influencers against mask, vaccination, and health measures. It employs mixed methods to analyze two popular anti-mask influencers in Quebec, Daniel Pilon and the Stéphane Blais’s Foundation for the defense of the rights and liberties of the people (FDDLP). As a counterpoint, the FDDLP represents itself as a defender against governmental overreach mounting legal challenges to the emergency health measures taken by the Quebec government. Blais’s videos present a counterpoint that resembles Pilon’s subject matter and rhetorical appeals. Given that the FDDLP presents itself as a populist defense of the people’s rights, it is notable that Blais’s videos move from rights-oriented discourse to more conspiracy-oriented themes over the course of the pandemic.
