Canada spy service increasingly worried about violent online rhetoric

FILE PHOTO: People transport a flag-wrapped coffin, outside the Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario, during a funeral of the Afzaal family that was killed in what police describe as a hate-motivated attack, in London, Ontario, Canada June 12, 2021. REUTERS/Alex Filipe/File Photo

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's spy service said on Friday it was increasingly concerned about the rise of violent ideologically motivated online rhetoric, which it blamed in part on tensions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said since the start of the pandemic, threats posed by extremists had "evolved with unprecedented multiplicity and fluidity".