The Internet, and particularly the World Wide Web, have grown dramatically since the creation of Stormfront, the first extremist hate site, in 1995, and this growth shows no sign of abating. As increasing numbers of people come online, more are potentially exposed to the growing mass of bigotry easily available there, their attitudes and behavior conceivably influenced by its malignant presence and insidious appeals.

Former Knights of the Ku Klux Klan leader Don Black, creator of Stormfront, continually adds to his site and hosts many other haters' Web pages. David Duke, another former leader of the Knights, and the National Association for the Advancement of White People, a group that Duke founded, employ the Web in hiding their white supremacist beliefs behind the slick, misleading rhetoric of "white rights." Factions of the currently weakened Ku Klux Klan use the Internet as a means to revitalization, spreading the Klan's traditional message of hatred for Jews, Blacks and immigrants.

Numerous groups and individuals have created and maintain Web sites promoting the ideals of Hitler's Nazi party. While some bigots revel in the Nazis' murder of 6 million Jews, others have denied that this genocide took place, maligning Jews in their effort to win Adolf Hitler's ideals new life ­ or, at least, a measure of legitimacy ­ in the political mainstream. Similarly, Black bigots, including the Nation of Islam, have cloaked virulent anti-Semitism in the language of historical revisionism, mistakenly claiming that Jews were primarily responsible for the trade in Black slaves. Even women, who like Blacks have historically been targets of bigotry, have joined male white supremacists denouncing Blacks and Jews online.

The young have shown a propensity for utilizing the Internet, and this applies no less to young bigots. The World Church of the Creator has established a number of attractive, well-designed Web sites, including some that specifically target teens and children. University student Alex Curtis has created a vicious site and mailing list popular among racists and anti-Semites, whom he wishes to bring together in support of his violent, hateful ideals. Marrying the Internet to hateful rock music, racist skinheads attempt to use it to win the hearts and minds of the young.

Anti-Semites and racists have not been alone in spreading hate on the Internet. Anti-gay Web sites, anti-abortion pages, and the anti-government presence of the militia and common law court movement have joined them online, as have bomb-making pages, which promote violent extremism of all stripes.

Combating online extremism presents enormous technological and legal difficulties. Even if it were electronically feasible to keep sites off the Internet, the international nature of this medium makes legal regulation virtually impossible. Furthermore, in the United States, the First Amendment guarantees the right of freedom of speech to all Americans, even those whose opinions are reprehensible. Consequently, governments, corporations and people of goodwill have looked for alternative ways to address the problem.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) based in the United States are not bound by the First Amendment, and they are not legally liable for the content of the sites they host. Consequently, the decision to host hate sites is theirs alone. Whatever their motivation, some have elected to host haters, while others require subscribers to sign contractual terms of service which prohibit using their facilities to promote hate.

Just as an Internet Service Provider can remove a hate site from its servers, concerned individuals can remove such sites from their screens. Filtering software products can help concerned individuals keep their home computers free of hate. Additionally, Internet users can let responsible authorities know about the threatening, hateful and violent material they find.

It is also important that individuals and organizations do more than speak out against bigotry. ADL hopes that the public will not only reject extremist propaganda on the Internet, but also choose to use the Internet to promote tolerance.

As a powerful technological tool that permits instantaneous communication between disparate populations across the globe, the Internet can promote cultural tolerance in a larger sense. It can help educate people, promote positive messages, spread truthful information, and facilitate the exchange of ideas. Indeed, the Internet has the potential to reinforce respect for all people's voices, to truly become what some have already called it: "the great equalizer."