It also obliquely refers to the
Holocaust, outlawing sites that
deny, minimize, approve or
justify crimes against humanity,
particularly those that occurred
during World War II.
--New European law |
Wired.com November 9, 1992 Europeans
Outlaw Net "Hate Speech" By Julia
Scheeres THE Council of Europe
has adopted a measure that would
criminalize Internet hate speech,
including hyperlinks to pages that contain
offensive content. The provision,
which was passed by the council's
decision-making body (the Committee of
Ministers), updates the European
Convention on Cybercrime. Specifically, the amendment bans "any
written material, any image or any
other representation of ideas or
theories, which advocates, promotes or
incites hatred, discrimination or
violence, against any individual or
group of individuals, based on race,
colour, descent or national or ethnic
origin, as well as religion if used as
pretext for any of these
factors." David
Irving comments: IT LOOKS like final defeat is
approaching ever closer for the
purveyors of conformist history.
That may seem paradoxical, but
think of it like this: when I was
banned from Italy, this meant
that the conformist historians of
that country had readily admitted
defeat, that they had not one
historian in Italy capable of
publicly refuting my views. Now the
Europeans are conceding that
their failure extends worldwide
-- nowhere, not even on the
Internet, can they debate and
uphold their absurd but political
correct versions of modern
history. Only by the imposition
of draconian penalties, including
imprisonment, can they hope to
sustain their lucrative lies for
a few months or years longer.
What a pathetic crowd of
scholars" they are. Suppose that
Bill Clinton had made it a
criminal offence to question or
even to debate in public or in
print whether President
Franklin D Roosevelt had
known in advance of Pearl Harbor
-- how would the world have
viewed such a new law (and the
history of Pearl Harbor itself
for that matter). Suppose the
George W Bush
administration now made it an
offense to ask whether the
astronauts of the Apollo mission
ever really set foot on the Moon,
or whether those photographs were
faked (my mind is truly open on
that controversy); that too would
lead to only one conclusion. Yes, if this
new European law comes into
force, it will be the first
global victory for Real History:
and I, David Irving, shall be the
first to essay to break that
law. Related
file:
Flashback:
Auberon
Waugh asked in The Daily
Telegraph: What sort of truth
requires these
sanctions? | It also obliquely refers to the
Holocaust, outlawing sites that deny,
minimize, approve or justify crimes
against humanity, particularly those that
occurred during World War II."The emergence of international
communication networks like the Internet
provide certain persons with modern and
powerful means to support racism and
xenophobia and enables them to disseminate
easily and widely expressions containing
such ideas," the council's report on the
amendment states. "In order to investigate
and prosecute such persons, international
cooperation is vital." Many European countries have existing
laws outlawing Internet racism, which is
generally protected as free speech in the
United States. The council cited a report
finding that 2,500 out of 4,000 racist
sites were created in the United
States. Critics say that the measure may push
hate groups to set up virtual shop in the
United States, pointing to a decision last
year by a U.S. judge who ruled that Yahoo
did not have to block French citizens'
access to online sales of Nazi
memorabilia, which are illegal in that
country. The judge determined that U.S.
websites are only subject to American
law. "This could lead to a clash of
cultures," said Cedric Laurant, a
Belgian lawyer and staff counsel with the
Electronic
Privacy and Information Center. "What
will happen if the French police start
asking local U.S. police to give them
information about the people running a
site?" European countries may decide to censor
U.S. content themselves, as Spain has
done, suggested Carlos Sánchez
Almeida, a cybercrime lawyer located
in Barcelona. Spain recently passed legislation
authorizing judges to shut down Spanish
sites and block access to U.S. Web pages
that don't comply with national laws. "If European countries adopt the
(anti-racism) amendment of the European
Council in their legislatures, they'll
also be able to block websites from the
U.S.A., despite the First Amendment." Representatives of the 44 European
countries on the European Council must
decide whether to adopt or reject the
measure during the next Parliamentary
Assembly session in January. Countries who
support the amendment will then need to
ratify it in their national legislatures
before making it law. Related
item on this website:- US
Online companies removing "offensive"
and unpatriotic postings from
Internet
- Holocaust
survivors sue Yahoo! over sale of Nazi
items | May
Sue Yahoo CEO | Will
Cyberspace Look Like France or
America
-
International
Herald Tribune on the Yahoo ban: "Who
are the real Nazis?" | Yahoo!
to ban Nazi memorabilia from
website
|