OSCE Meeting on the Relationship between Racist, Xenophobic
and Anti-Semitic Propaganda on the Internet and Hate Crimes, Paris, 16 – 17
June 2004
OSCE/FOM side event with Ms. Karin Spaink
Some
arguments:
Why discriminatory speech on the internet cannot – and should
not – be banned
Objections pertaining to constitutional
rights and the law
• Racism is not easy to identify. It took Dutch
and Flemish courts years to penalize the Centrumpartij and Vlaams Blok, both
of them parties that identify themselves as extreme nationalists.
• Requiring ISPs or co-regulation bodies to
assess (parts of) web sites or usenet postings and giving them the right to
remove expressions that are judged to be examples of hate speech, places
them in a position equal to of the court, without simultaneously giving the
accused the rights that s/he has within the penal system (the right to an
attorney and the right to appeal). Moreover, court verdicts are public,
which allows for transparency and accountability. ISPs or co-regulation
bodies lack both.
Objections pertaining to the nature of the
internet
• There are no unified laws to define hate
speech. What is accepted in one country, is not acceptable in the other. The
global nature of the internet makes it impossible to prevent people who
engage in discriminatory speech from conducting their activities from within
the framework of the countries that pose the least resistance.
• The internet is not one media: there are many
different protocols (http, irc, smtp). There is quite a difference between a
discriminatory web site and a similar remark in a chat; the first one has a
more 'permanent' character while the second is more 'fleeting'. Proposals to
legislate hate speech usually lump everything together.
• The phenomenon of spam prove that people will
find ways and means to publish banned material. Anti-spam laws have not
decreased the amount of spam being pumped around: it has made it more
difficult to track those responsible.
Objections pertaining to current
anti-discriminatory hotlines
• At least some of these hotlines have proved
themselves to be severely slanted, taking anti-semitism much more serious
than any other discriminatory speech (such as anti-gay or anti-muslim
speech).
• Hotlines make themselves insufficiently
accountable. Many of them fail to publish statistics, hardly any of them
publish the whys and hows of the individual cases that they have dealt with.
Some of them are self-appointed; some of them engage in what can only be
referred to as 'management by slander': going to the press and publicly
characterizing certain web sites as hate sites, while the prosecutor can
find no reason to start a case. Ironically, that practice can be labelled as
hate speech too...
OSCE Meeting on Racist, Xenophobic and Anti-Semitic Propaganda
on the Internet
OPENING SPEECH
haGalil onLine:
Tension
between freedom of speech and control of incitement
I think it became clear, that
we cannot perceive the internet primarily as a threat, but much more should use
the chance it offers to promote understanding and dialogue in a pluralistic and
global society...
(Soundfile
from Paris RA)
Public and Private Partnership:
The Fight
Against Racism, Xenophobia and anti-Semitism on the Internet
An Introduction by Miklós Haraszti, OSCE-Representative on
Freedom of the Media...
Technical and political considerations:
Is prohibiting hate-speech
feasible - or desirable?
At the OSCE Paris conference a number of countries / NGOs
appealed to regulate the internet in order to stop hate speech. However, and
contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as 'the internet'...
Security and Transparency:
Online Propaganda and the Commission of Hate
Crimes
by Michael Whine, Chairman of the Community Security Trust,
which provides defence and security services for the Jewish community in the
UK...
Free Speech:
..."Let the bright light of truth expose
their bigotry, so their lies can be unmasked"...
by Stephan M. Minikes, Ambassador, U.S. Mission...
Christian Antijudaism:
Cyberspace is a reflection of
the world-at-large
If we put enough effort in education that promotes respect for differences,
peaceful co-existence and tolerance, the Internet will also become hate-free...
One of the most acute dilemmas facing us at the
outset of the Twenty-First Century:
The
proliferation of hate material on the internet
Mass communication is not anymore on its infancy. With the
Internet, we are dealing with a phenomenon unparalleled in all of History.
Instant communication is possible, to all points on the globe, at minimum
cost...CONCLUSIONS BY THE CHAIR
OF THE OSCE MEETING
16./17. Juni - OSZE-Konferenz in Paris:
Fremdenhass und Antisemitismus im Internet
Am kommenden Mittwoch und Donnerstag findet in Paris
eine OSZE-Konferenz statt, die die Zusammenhänge zwischen rassistischer,
fremdenfeindlicher und antisemitischer Propaganda im Internet und Hassdelikten
zum Thema hat...
Antisemitische Propaganda im Internet:
Hass ist das Ende der Welt
Methoden zur Rechtsdurchsetzung und Erfahrungen mit
der strafrechtlichen Verfolgung antisemitischer u./o. rechtsextremistischer
Hetze...
Ein Motivvorrat, der in jeder Epoche wieder
aktualisiert werden kann:
Zum Begriff des Antisemitismus
Die Wortbildung basiert auf
sprachwissenschaftlichen und völkerkundlichen Unterscheidungen des ausgehenden
18. Jahrhunderts, in denen mit dem Begriff des Semitismus der "Geist" der
semitischen Völker im Unterschied zu dem der Indogermanen erfasst und abgewertet
werden sollte...
[ENGLISH]
[FRENCH]
[SoundFile
(English) OSCE Conference Berlin- Session 4 / David Gall] |
hagalil.com
20-06-2004
|