Link to story.

Extremists also find a home on the Web

P class="p_italic">By Melanie Axelrod

The World Wide Web has opened the lines of communication more than ever before. But many people are concerned the Web is being used to spread racist messages to millions of people -- including those who wouldn't be exposed to them otherwise.

"The Web is a tremendous resource in that it gives people a chance to reach out to each other and communicate with others around the world," says Marilyn Mayo, associate director of the fact-finding department at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York. "But [many extremist groups] are not just promoting pride; they are promoting hatred, and there's a difference."

Tracking hate groups online

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPL) of Montgomery, Ala., also has been very visible in tracking extremist groups. Each year, the SPL publishes the Intelligence Report, which analyzes the activities of hate groups and lists those with Internet presences.

The group's most recent report included 305 Web sites belonging to Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi, racist Skinhead, Christian Identity, black separatist and other groups considered "hate" organizations. The SPL takes an electronic "snapshot" of each Web site, which acts as a reference tool for law enforcement.

"There's no question the Web has changed the radical right in many ways," says Mark Potok, spokesman for the SPL and editor of the report. "To me, the most significant thing is the empowering of white supremacists. Fifteen years ago, a white supremacist couldn't take his message out in public too frequently. Now, he can take it online."

Potok says many groups are "fairly cutting edge" and have used the power of the Internet to distribute materials. Stormfront, a white pride group, and the National Alliance, an organization of Aryan men and women, are two such groups.

"For a while, the Klansmen had a lot of difficulty getting pamphlets distributed. Law enforcement gave them a hard time," Potok says. "Now, they have put up a variety of sites and get 3 million to 4 million hits."

Is it hate or pride?

Depending on whom you ask, sites considered "hateful" or "extremist" to some might be displays of cultural pride to others.

Matt Hale, pontifex maximus of white supremacy organization World Church of the Creator, manages a Web site but says the group has never encouraged violent activities.

"We created the site to educate and motivate people to stand up for the white race," Hale said in an e-mail. "We wanted to finally present Creativity [our religion] in an undistilled manner... it has worked quite well."

Hale says the Web is a good way to spread the group's beliefs because authorities don't intervene as they do when the group tries to give out literature. The Web also allows him to reach more people; the group's homepage links to mirror sites in French, German, Polish, Swedish and Spanish.

"We have many international supporters now," Hale says. "We've had members in foreign countries request American members to put up sites for them. The countries can't stop their citizens from accessing them."

Are kids a target?

Potok says that racist sites target teen-agers, who are often in a rebellious stage and looking at alternative beliefs.

Some sites try to spread messages not only to teens but also to children. Stormfront, one of the first white pride groups to have a presence on the Net, also has a kids' site (Stormfront For Kids), which is maintained by an 11-year-old. The site can be quite attractive to the pre-teen sect, with links not only to the history of the organization, but also to pages about Pokemon, games and music.

As much as Potok may disagree with these sites, he doesn't believe they should be censored. "Open discussion between parents and their children is crucial," he says. "Just like how parents have to explain the dangers of unprotected sex and drugs, parents need to speak to their kids about hatred."

Suppressing free speech

Many people disagree. But despite differences in ideology, Mayo, Potok and Hale agree that the Web should encourage speech, not suppress it.

"You can't turn the stuff off," Mayo says. "Other countries have restrictions on racist and anti-Semitic content. We support the First Amendment, and we want [hate and anti-Semitic content] out there on the Web so we can expose [these groups]."

In 1998, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) proposed the Internet School Filtering Act, which would have mandated filtering software on federally funded libraries and schools. In 1999, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) proposed a bill to fight hate crimes that included legislation to make filtering technology more accessible. The bill also would have criminalized posting bomb-making instructions on the Web.

Potok, who testified during Hatch's committee hearings, says it would be disastrous if the U.S. tried to restrict online hate speech the way Europe does.

"In Europe, where hate speech on the Web is censored, a new class of neo-Nazi criminals has formed," he says. Plus, countries including Germany haven't been able to control access to hate sites, anyway.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) strongly agrees with the ADL in keeping speech free and fair and has worked with many of the so-called hate groups.

"The ADL is interested in more speech, not less speech," says spokeswoman Emily Whitfield. "People are smart and aware enough to make up their own minds. ... In many ways, the Internet is the most democratizing medium in that many people can get their views heard."

-- (xians@suck.big time), March 19, 2001

Answers

Man, you got that right. Christians suck big time. Christians are haters. Progressive thinkers everywhere hate them.

-- (LeonTrotsky@Patrice_Lumumba_U.edu), March 19, 2001.

The attempt here to portray most or all Christians as hateful is in itself just as hateful and repugnant as the attempt by some who try to portray most or all blacks as criminals.

-- (Stop@the.hate), March 19, 2001.

I honestly don't understand what this article has to do with Christians.

Sure Christian Identity calls themselves a christian group, but their theology is radically different from almost all Catholic and Protestant groups.

The World Church of the Creator is vehemently anti-Christian. So again what does this article have to do with xians?

-- Dr. Pibb (dr.pibb@zdnetonebox.com), March 19, 2001.