Tuesday, December 27, 2005
A Long Time Ago
[Ed. note: From the then-and-now comments below, things have clearly gotten out of hand. In the absence of a meaningful governmental response in the US, publicly opposing hate speech becomes ever more vital. Where, we might ask, are the videos, TV, and radio spots by say, the National Council of Churches?]
(January 15, 1995. Vancouver Sun)
OTTAWA - An anti-racism group wants the government to regulate the worldwide computer network under the Broadcast Act. Simon Wiesenthal Centre representatives say the Internet should be defined as broadcasting and regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The CRTC can pull a broadcaster's license if it airs hate propaganda. The organization also asked Wednesday for legislation to make promotion of hatred on computer networks a criminal offence.
"There's a change in the battlefield and a change in the rules of engagement," Rabbi Abraham Cooper of Los Angeles said at a news conference. The organization demonstrated the amount of hate and racist literature available on the net by connecting with such state-of-the-art information services as:
* STORMFRONT, published by former Ku Klux Klan member Don Black.
* RESISTANCE RECORDS, put out by Canadian white supremacist George Burdi.
* VOICE OF FREEDOM, published by Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel.
"It's one-stop shopping for white racist revisionist material," said Rick Eaton, of Los Angeles, as he scrolled through the services, which are set up like magazines with color graphics and content pages listing articles available. Also on Internet: a library of Patriot (American militia groups) material and guides on how to make bombs, plastic explosives, and the gas recently used by terrorists to kill Japanese subway riders.
Sol Littman of Toronto said the Internet gives hate mongers the ability to reach millions in seconds. "It will make a radical change in their ability to reach out and organize."
But others worry censoring computer networks could endanger democracy.
"The Broadcasting Act is not a good route to take," says Marita Moll, co-organizer of Public information advisory council. "We would be much better served if the online medium was viewed in the same way we view the telephone medium - as a communications medium in which the person who is using it is liable for the kind of content they put there."
Under the Broadcasting Act, companies providing information services on the computer network would become gatekeepers, she said. That would be like making Bell responsible for what people say on the phone. Justice Minister Allan Rock said he is waiting for a report from a national advisory council set up to make recommendations on the Internet.
(December 27, 2005)
"That was a long time ago and only applied to Canadian law. This was in '95 when there were only a couple of dozen hate sites on the Web, exclusively in North America. There are now thousands of sites world-wide, promoting terrorism, hate, anarchy, and almost anything else one can think of."
--Rick Eaton, Simon Wiesenthal Center
(January 15, 1995. Vancouver Sun)
OTTAWA - An anti-racism group wants the government to regulate the worldwide computer network under the Broadcast Act. Simon Wiesenthal Centre representatives say the Internet should be defined as broadcasting and regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
The CRTC can pull a broadcaster's license if it airs hate propaganda. The organization also asked Wednesday for legislation to make promotion of hatred on computer networks a criminal offence.
"There's a change in the battlefield and a change in the rules of engagement," Rabbi Abraham Cooper of Los Angeles said at a news conference. The organization demonstrated the amount of hate and racist literature available on the net by connecting with such state-of-the-art information services as:
* STORMFRONT, published by former Ku Klux Klan member Don Black.
* RESISTANCE RECORDS, put out by Canadian white supremacist George Burdi.
* VOICE OF FREEDOM, published by Holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel.
"It's one-stop shopping for white racist revisionist material," said Rick Eaton, of Los Angeles, as he scrolled through the services, which are set up like magazines with color graphics and content pages listing articles available. Also on Internet: a library of Patriot (American militia groups) material and guides on how to make bombs, plastic explosives, and the gas recently used by terrorists to kill Japanese subway riders.
Sol Littman of Toronto said the Internet gives hate mongers the ability to reach millions in seconds. "It will make a radical change in their ability to reach out and organize."
But others worry censoring computer networks could endanger democracy.
"The Broadcasting Act is not a good route to take," says Marita Moll, co-organizer of Public information advisory council. "We would be much better served if the online medium was viewed in the same way we view the telephone medium - as a communications medium in which the person who is using it is liable for the kind of content they put there."
Under the Broadcasting Act, companies providing information services on the computer network would become gatekeepers, she said. That would be like making Bell responsible for what people say on the phone. Justice Minister Allan Rock said he is waiting for a report from a national advisory council set up to make recommendations on the Internet.
(December 27, 2005)
"That was a long time ago and only applied to Canadian law. This was in '95 when there were only a couple of dozen hate sites on the Web, exclusively in North America. There are now thousands of sites world-wide, promoting terrorism, hate, anarchy, and almost anything else one can think of."
--Rick Eaton, Simon Wiesenthal Center
