Governing racist content on the Internet: national and international responses.

AuthorAkdeniz, Yaman

INTRODUCTION

Racism and the dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred was a pressing social problem long before the emergence of the digital age. The advancement of communication technologies such as the Internet has, however, added a new dimension to this pressing problem by providing individuals and organizations "with modern and powerful means to support racism and xenophobia". (1) Long before the Internet entered our homes, racist groups made use of other communication tools including the telephone networks from as far back as the 1970s. For example, the Western Guard Party, a white-supremacist Neo-Nazi group based in Toronto, Canada, had a telephone answering machine which was used to propagate hatred, (2) and was the subject matter of a long legal dispute. (3)

Concerns about "digital hate" date back to the mid-1980s along with the documented use of computers, computer bulletin boards and networks to disseminate racist views and content. (4) New methods of dissemination of anti-Semitic and revisionist propaganda about the Holocaust (including video games, computer programs and the Minitel system in France) were noted by a United Nations (UN) Secretary-General report in 1994, (5) and the growing use of modern electronic media in international communications between right-wing radical groups (computer disks, databanks, etc.) was recorded in 1995. (6) But officially the use of electronic mail and the Internet was first observed as a growing trend amongst racist organizations to spread racist or xenophobic propaganda in 1996. (7) The United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in his 1997 report declared that:

The Internet has become the new battleground in the fight to influence public opinion. While it is still far behind newspapers, magazines, radio and television in the size of its audience, the Internet has already captured the imagination of people with a message, including purveyors of hate, racists and anti-Semites. (8) It was predicted that the dissemination of racist content would increase with the rapid growth of Internet use around the globe. Easy and inexpensive access to the Internet, as well as the development of the World Wide Web, provided new and ready opportunities for publishing and this extended to material of a racist nature. (9) Flyers and pamphlets that had traditionally been distributed locally by hand and had limited visibility could now be distributed and accessed globally through the Internet. The "slow, insidious effect of a relatively isolated bigoted commentary ... has now changed to a form of communication having a widespread circulation." (10) In time, this type of content would be presented in more attractive high quality formats including that of online racist videos, (11) games (12) and cartoons; as well as music, (13) radio, and audio-visual transmissions.

The use of the Internet as an instrument for the widespread dissemination of racist content can be traced to the mid-1990s. The Simon Wiesenthal Center identified a single website in 1995, (14) and approximately 70 websites disseminating racist content in 1996. (15) Ten years later, it has been estimated that there are more than 5,000 websites in a variety of languages which promote racial hatred, anti-Semitism, violence and xenophobia around the world. (16) A 2005 study by the Simon Wiesenthal Center entitled Digital Terrorism & Hate 2005 reported a 25% increase in such websites compared to 2004 which indicated that the problem of racism and xenophobia was growing over the Internet. (17) A similar estimate was made by Gabriel Weimann, whose research revealed more than 4,300 websites related to terrorist organizations and purposes in 2004. (18) The estimated number of websites which promote racial hatred and violence reached over 6,000 in May 2006 according to the Digital Terrorism & Hate 2006 report. (19)

These types of websites are largely used for propaganda, disseminating hatred, (21) recruitment, (22) training, (22) fundraising, (23) and for communication purposes. (24) In terms of content and typology, racist websites on the Internet could be categorized into transnational hate, religious hatred, and those denying historical events such as the Holocaust. (25) Some of them are regionally based, for instance the Nazi supremacy and skinhead pages in the United States; and the extreme nationalistic, anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic web pages based in Europe. (26) There is a greater concern for the resurgence of Nazi ideology within the Council of Europe region (27) and there are several neo-Nazi websites associated with that movement. There is also a growing number of radical Islamic websites under the umbrella of E-jihad (28) in the post-September 11th world, "particularly in relation to the conflict in Palestine and Israel." (29) A considerable number of websites still disseminate anti-Semitic materials (30) including the fraudulent document known as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (31) "which purports to be the actual blueprint by Jewish leaders to take over the world." (32) Although several other controversial publications of a racist nature or that encourage violence (33) are available over the Internet, none are as widely available as this anti-Semitic forgery which "refuses to die". (34) The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was first published in Russia in 1905 and is available through a number of websites including Hamas Online (website of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist militant organization) and is still a bestseller in print format in many Muslim countries, including Turkey. (35)

As will be discussed in this article, these disturbing developments have naturally informed the global fight against racism. A significant number of international instruments acknowledge and attempt to address the problem of racism. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1963) (ICERD), (36) the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), (37) the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), (38) the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), (39) the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid ("Apartheid Convention"), (40) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (41) are some of the more important international instruments to note.

In addition to the adoption of normative standards, the international community has responded to the persistence of racism since the entry into force of the ICERD, by proclaiming three consecutive Decades to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1973-1983; 1983-1993; 1993-2003), and by organizing three World Conferences at the United Nations level to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination in 1978, 1983 and 2001.

Apart from these noteworthy initiatives, the growing problem of racist content on the Internet has also prompted vigorous responses from a variety of agents, including governments, supranational and international organizations as well as from the private sector. (42) This multi-tiered and multi-agency pluralistic approach to governing racist Internet content will be the focus of this article.

  1. Identifying Key Issues

    The global, decentralized and borderless nature of the Internet creates a potentially infinite and unbreakable communications complex which cannot be readily bounded by one national government or even several or many acting in concert; there is simply no unique solution for effective regulation at the national level. Harmonization efforts to combat illegal content have been protracted and are ongoing, even for universally condemned content such as child pornography. (43) Efforts to harmonize laws to combat racist Internet content have proved to be even more problematic. For example, while child pornography is often regarded as a clear cut example of "illegal content", racist content has been much more difficult to categorize. (44) Content regarded by some as harmful or offensive is not always considered illegal in all States. The differing views on the limits to freedom of expression have resulted in different legal responses to racist discourse in North America (especially in the United States) and in Europe. There are also varied approaches within Europe in terms of what constitutes illegal content, with individual States having differing approaches to "harm". (45) Unfortunately, content regarded as harmful or offensive do not fall within the boundaries of illegality in all States.

    Achieving a proper balance between the desire to control racist content and to protect freedom of expression has inevitably proved challenging on the Internet. Despite an attempt at regional harmonization at the Council of Europe level with an Additional Protocol to the 2001 Convention on cybercrime, (46) there is no uniformed approach to the dissemination and availability of racist content on the Internet.

    The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has noted, "the obligation incumbent upon all States to prevent and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race is enshrined in articles 55(c) and 56 of the Charter of the United Nations and has been subsequently reiterated in numerous multilateral conventions." (47) The most significant instrument in this context is the ICERD, article 4 of which states that the signing and ratifying States agree to:

    condemn all propaganda and all organizations which are based on ideas or theories of superiority of one race or group of persons of one colour or ethnic origin, or which attempt to justify or promote racial hatred and discrimination in any form, and undertake to adopt immediate and positive measures designed to eradicate all incitement to, or acts of, such discrimination and, to...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT