These are the same politicians
who have made it a criminal
offence to comment on, or to
criticise, or to deprecate,
the deliberate racial
humiliation of the native
Europeans since the end of
World War II.
--
David Irving's comment
|
Friday, February 22, 2002
Move to
Ban Net 'Hate Speech' Draws Praise,
Concern
By Bernhard Warner
European Internet
Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) -
Authors of emails and
Internet postings that contain racist or
xenophobic material may face criminal
charges under a proposed European treaty
that is dividing the Internet and law
enforcement communities.
David Irving
comments:
Aaaargh! These clumsy and
venal European politicians will
thereby enable the traditional
enemies of free speech to shoot
down dangerous websites like
ours, which you have been
enjoying with relative immunity
from prosecution now for four
years.
After all, we do nothing but
spew out hatred, contempt for
religious groups, and racial
incitement. Nothing but!
These are the same politicians
who have made it a criminal
offence to comment on, or to
criticise, or to deprecate, the
deliberate racial humiliation of
the native Europeans since the
end of World War II: I predicted
once in a speech at Passau that
we would see the old
Klassenkrieg of the
Thirties furtively replaced by
Rassenkrieg as an element
to corrode and subvert western
civilisation.
Now they are frantically
trying to close this last
loophole -- the Internet garden
of free thought that has
unexpectedly blossomed in their
own backyard, out of control,
like a beautiful wild orchid.
To them we are an ugly and a
hateful weed. We have to be
rooted out -- ausgerottet
is the word the Germans lawmakers
are no doubt quietly using, all
over again.
|
The proposal, drafted by the Council of
Europe, would essentially outlaw the
publishing of "hate speech" on the
Internet. Welcomed by law enforcement
agencies, it has been slammed by Internet
firms as impossible to enforce.
The agreement would create a
comprehensive legal framework for
international crimefighters as they strive
to identify and prosecute cross-border
hate crimes on the Internet, an area
politicians are eager to crack down on in
the wake of the September 11 attacks.
"We must harmonize the laws first so
that countries can cooperate in criminal
investigations regarding the Internet,"
Peter Csonka, principal
administrator at the Council of Europe,
told Reuters on Friday. He added that many
member states have already criminalized
certain activities regarded as racist or
xenophobic -- such as threatening a group
on the grounds of race, color or religion
-- and that the treaty would seek to
extend that onto the Net.
Free
Speech or Racial Hatred?
The proposal has already provoked
protest from civil liberties groups who
maintain the proposal could criminalize
free speech, and from some Internet firms
concerned over liability issues.
Csonka said that telecommunications
firms and Internet service providers have
contacted the council asking for
clarification on whether they would be
held liable for hate speech posted or
emailed by their customers.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
typically operate a policy of
"notification and takedown," in which they
will remove sites containing objectionable
material if it's first brought to their
attention. Self-policing in this manner,
they say, is the best way to tackle hate
speech online.
"It's almost impossible, and this is
the consensus in the IPS community too, to
monitor every single piece of Web space in
the Internet community," said Paul
Barker, director of corporate affairs
at Freeserve, the British ISP owned by
France's Wanadoo .
Csonka said the liability concerns
raised by ISPs and Web site operators have
not yet been addressed.
Civil liberty groups have also objected
to the proposal, fearing it could bring
the more rigorous anti-hate speech laws
that exist in continental Europe to the
more liberal UK and U.S.
For example, it is unlawful to post or
sell Nazi regalia or propaganda on the
Internet in France and Germany, but there
are few legal curbs in the U.S. and
Britain.
"This proposal could potentially outlaw
free speech," said Malcolm Hutty,
general director for Campaign Against
Censorship on the Internet in Britain, or
CACIB. "That would be a great infringement
of civil rights."
CACIB and sister organizations of
online rights group, the Global Internet
Liberty Campaign, have begun to formulate
a campaign to raise awareness for the new
policy.
The Convention on Cybercrime is the
fruit of unprecedented international
cooperation, receiving input from 43
European countries plus the United States,
Japan, Canada and South Africa.
Drafted
by the Council of Europe, a pan-European
legal forum which works for the
harmonization of laws across the
continent, the treaty would need
individual ratification by each before it
is adopted into law. It has so far been
signed, but not yet ratified, by 32
nations.
The "hate speech" amendment is expected
to be brought into the convention this
July, officials said, after the current
public input period ends.
-
France probes
'far-right' university (and David
Irving's comment)
|