Conservative journalist and author Lauren Southern is taking a step back from the public scene, announcing plans to pursue a “less public life.”

The Canadian political activist ran as a Libertarian Party candidate in Canada’s federal election in 2015 and rose in popularity with her edgy on-site reporting for The Rebel Media. She left the company in 2017 to focus primarily on independent work.

Southern was deplatformed from Patreon in 2017 for reporting on NGOs and their illegal trafficking of migrants into Europe through the Mediterranean. Patreon claimed Southern was putting migrants at risk, but as Breitbart News reported, migrant sea deaths have since plunged. Southern also forced the pro-migrant advocacy NGO Advocates Abroad to shut down all social media accounts after catching its executive director, Ariel Ricker, admitting to “coaching” migrants to lie in their asylum claims.

“We teach them … how to keep their private trauma private because all this acting is a shield,” Ricker said. “I tell them this is acting, all of this is acting, it’s all acting as though this is theatre.”

In 2018, Southern released the Farmlands documentary, detailing the plight of South Africa’s white minority population.

The Trump administration took swift action on farm killings following the release of Southern’s documentary.

The Australian government also reacted and considered issuing special visas to white South African farmers.

Southern blasted to the political forefront again in 2018 after Border Force in Coquelles detained her and barred her entry to the UK. At the time, the UK Home Office told Fox News that Southern’s presence was not “conducive to the public good.”

Over the last year, Southern has noticeably pulled back her social media presence in hopes of enjoying a life that is less dominated by the “virtual world.”

“I have long wanted to pursue this less public life, but I have also felt a sense of duty to stay and make a difference,” Southern announced in a post.

“It’s not that I don’t deeply enjoy the creative and political aspects of my work: it is that I would prefer to find that fulfillment in a more private capacity,” she continued. “I’ve finally decided to fully make that commitment.”

Southern said she originally joined the political sphere because she “wanted people to have more meaningful and happy lives.” However, there was a trade-off.

“While I was thrilled to travel, report, and debate, in what many would regard as the adventure of a lifetime – career and adventure are only one aspect of a meaningful existence,” she wrote.

That isn’t to say that she has regrets. In fact, she described the last few years as “the most formative and phenomenal years” of her life and expressed her gratitude for the unique opportunities to see the world.

In the farewell piece, Southern blasted the media and reaffirmed her refusal to apologize for standing up for what she knows to be true:

I will not apologize for things that are not true, no matter how often the media has attempted to affix labels and events to me as false scarlet letters. I cannot recant opinions I did not hold. I cannot breathe truth into lies. I know myself, and it is a great shame that so many who were charged with telling the truth about me never permitted themselves the same knowledge.

Despite the new direction, Southern is not exiting the scene completely. She acknowledged that she has “contributions” to make, but she plans to do so through a more “academic lens”:

To that end, I intend on returning to school and pursuing my academics again. In so doing, I doubt that this will be the last of me. Who knows? Maybe you’ll read my name on papers, in journals, or as a byline in articles. The story of my political career may have more chapters one day, but they will not be in the same televised firebrand capacity you’ve seen before.

“Thank you once again to all those who have supported me and made my work possible,” Southern closed. “I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together – and you should be too.”