Blogger and former magazine publisher Ezra Levant who is being sued by Warman and others for libel has argued that Warman's actions as a plaintiff before the Canadian Human Rights Commissions are tantamount to censorship in the name of human rights.[34][35] Warman is also suing Jonathan Kay and the National Post, the operators of Free Dominion and several bloggers for defamation in relation to comments made about him and his complaints to the Commission. Levant says these "nuisance suit[s]" are part of Warman's "maximum disruption" policy.[36]

Maclean's which had been the subject of an unrelated human rights complaint concerning hate speech has reported that "Richard Warman says he's fighting hate. Critics say free speech is the real victim." That article included commentary or allegations that:

...[T]he slam-dunk quality to Warman's Section 13 cases are a cause for worry, symbolizing the drift of human rights commissions into the boggy territory of covert investigation and speech control. Those concerns deepened two weeks ago with revelations that, for a time, Warman was acting both as a complainant and an investigator at the commission. Even after he left in 2004, he seemed to enjoy easy access to commission offices, stopping by to chat with staff or get documents printed. ... Of the fact Warman and investigators were going online undercover, [Keith] Martin says simply: "That's appalling."[37]

The CHRT criticized Warman in March 2009 for having posted pseudonymously — using the names Axetogrind and Pogue Mahone — to neo-Nazi sites such as Stormfront and Vanguard News Network, as if in agreement with racist and antisemitic messages posted there. In one post, in response to a comment in January 2005 about American neo-Nazi leader Jeff Schoep, Warman wrote, "Keep up the good work Commander Schoep!". The CHRT ruled that Warman's posts, which he initially denied were his, could have precipitated further hate messages from forum members, and that he had undermined his credibility. In his defence, Warman said his posts had helped him identify members of the neo-Nazi movement, and that at the time there was no "road map" for such investigations. "With hindsight, he said, "things might have been done differently today."[38][39]

[edit] Political activism

Warman ran as a Green Party of Canada candidate in the 1997 federal election in the Windsor West riding, and in the 2000 federal election in Ottawa—Orléans, placing fifth on both occasions.[40] He ran as the Green Party of Ontario candidate in the 1995 Ontario provincial election in Simcoe Centre, placing fifth, and in 1999 in Ottawa West—Nepean, placing fourth.[41][42]

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