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| Compiled By GayToday
A report on Internet hate sites published by The Simon Weisenthal Center has revealed that nearly 1,500
sites promote homophobia, racism, religious intolerance and violence. Prior to the infamous Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, there was only one such site. During the past year alone, the number has more than doubled.
In December, 1997, hate sites numbered only 600. These sites feature racist propaganda, hate music, neo-Nazi rhetoric and bomb-making instructions. Anti-gay, anti- Semitic, anti-Catholic, anti-Moslem and pro-violence anti-abortion screeds predominate.
While it is not believed that memberships in hate groups have necessarily kept pace with the proliferation of their web sites, the sense of empowerment that the Internet brings to such groups is expanding. Members find not only that they've become able to share their fierce prejudices and warped conspiracy theories, but to coordinate both inter-state and inter-continental actions, aimed at defaming and/or harming the racial, sexual and religious groups they so despise. The Weisenthal Center report, Digital Hate 2000, is the result of a fourteen month investigation. By exposing the sites, the Center makes clear that it is not recommending censorship. "We need some good citizenship on-line and aware parents and aware teachers," says Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Center. Rabbi Cooper hopes that Internet companies will, like newspapers, refuse to accept advertising from hate groups. In December, the expose of an anti-gay hate site on-campus ( Murderers on Campus? December 1) had been posted on GayToday for barely four hours before the site's creator, a college student, affected profuse but highly suspect apologies to the gay and lesbian community.
The hate site GayToday helped bring down
As soon as the college had been made aware of the site's existence, the offending student had been called to account and, in the wake of extensive publicity, he opted not to return to the college for the 1999 semester. The college, caught unwittingly hosting his basher's e-mail address, cancelled his account. Inasmuch as the offender knew he'd also violated the anti-hate rules of his Internet web page provider, Angelfire, he himself cancelled his Angelfire account, though the company would have done so had he refused. Marietta College told its students that it had become aware of "the use of an Angelfire web page to promote violence against gays." This page according to Marietta authorities, had also depicted "other groups in demeaning fashions and paints a picture of the college that is not representative." The authorities continued: "Marietta College e-mail addresses were used in these pages to promote these agendas. While the college cannot do anything about the Angelfire web pages, the college has suspended all e-mail addresses used to promote them since such use clearly violates the college's Internet acceptable use policy. Moreover, this matter has been referred to the appropriate student life officials for further investigation. Marietta College does not in any way support or endorse the repugnant content of the web pages in question. The college's sexual and discriminatory policies clearly label such behavior as offensive and unacceptable in the campus community." Thus, once hate sites are discovered, their life spans can be shortened appreciably if groups affected by such hate material appeal to circumspect Internet providers so that any hate accounts may be quickly cancelled. Order 'Digital Hate 2000': On CD-ROM (for Windows only), it is available for $20.00 ($25.00 Canadian). Telephone ordering: (310) 772-2494 or (800) 553-4474 |
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