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Internet Service Providers: A Link to Hate
While most
Internet access providers have policies that regulate offensive
speech, most do not ban hate speech outright. Some providers cite
their First Amendment rights as reason enough not to interfere with
content on their servers.
For some
web sites, regulating content remains a work in progress. Today,
Internet providers such as America Online have clear guidelines
regulating what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior
on their servers. An AOL subscriber can lose privileges simply because
of a complaint from another user. AOL and others have worked closely
with ADL to respond responsibly to hate on their servers.
But some
Internet service providers have been less willing to establish firm
policies against hate speech, citing the First Amendment in their
defense. For example, Earthlink of Pasadena, Calif., states in its
"acceptable use policy" that the site "supports the free flow of
information and ideas over the Internet" and does not actively monitor
the content of web sites it hosts. Although Earthlink makes clear
that illegal activities are not permitted on its site, that one
caveat didn't stop the neo-Nazi web site "For Folk and Fatherland"
from establishing a home page through Earthlink. The web site reprints
Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and more than two dozen of Hitler's speeches.
It's not illegal activity, but the message is clearly hateful.
Those hate
groups that do find trouble gaining access to mainstream Internet
service providers can turn to one of a number of renegades of the
Web, hate institutions such as Don Black's "Stormfront." Since becoming
the first hate site to go live in 1995, "Stormfront" has leapt into
the business of hosting extremist sites, describing itself as "an
association of White activists on the Internet whose work is partially
supported by providing webhosting for other sites." At least one
extremist bumped from a mainstream online service has taken refuge
on Black's server. Alex Curtis' "Nationalist Observer" site, once
hosted by America Online, now resides at "Stormfront." The implication
is clear: No matter how many mainstream Internet providers rebuff
the bigots, those determined enough to establish a racist site will
be able to find a willing host.
Next: Conclusion:
Hate a Growing Problem on the Internet |
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