Human rights group applauds Canadian approach on Internet hate sites

Despite a growing number of Canadian-based hate groups popping up on the web, mostly based on U.S. servers, the head of a prominent human rights group says this country’s approach to expression on the Internet may hold the greatest promise of dealing with the problem. Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre, tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that Canadian ISPs and government are to be applauded for their efforts to counter the proliferation of anti-Semite, terrorist and other hate groups that threaten to break out of the fringe and spark a mainstream mass movement. Cooper, in Ottawa on April 7 to publicize the release of the Wiesenthal Centre’s Digital Terrorism & Hate 2005 CD report, says the Canadian government is quick to apply hate laws, and ISPs have been cooperative in removing those materials from sites. He hopes the Canadian government will be more pro-active about encouraging other jurisdictions to adopt its approach. "Somewhere between the American pre-9/11 laissez faire, where everything goes, and Beijing’s brilliant ongoing total manipulation of their Internet space, lies a healthy approach to this. One of the subtexts of our conversations here, besides giving (the Canadian Association of Internet Providers) a little public honouring yesterday, is to try to encourage Canada to take a more proactive role in trying to bridge the gap between the European-based (approach), led by France…and the United States’ approach saying that the answer to hate speech is war speech, which of course doesn’t answer any of the questions that we’re dealing with." The centre has been tracking the proliferation of hate groups for several years (CNM, June 25/03, Nov. 14/02), and finds each year that the number of online sites promoting their views has grown. This year, for example, the centre found a 25% increase in hate sites over the course of 2004. Its latest report is based on over 5,000 sites that the centre calls "problematic web sites that aid and abet terrorism, promote racial violence, anti-Semitism and xenophobia." In Canada, the report points to dozens of sites based on neo-Nazi ideologies, most, but not all, of which operate from U.S. servers where First Amendment rights protect their freedom of expression. Sites described include the Imperial Klans of Canada, the Canadian Confederate Friendship Society, BC White Pride, the Heritage Front, and the Zundelsite. While Cooper has high praise for the cooperation he sees between ISPs and the federal government applying hate laws, he says Canadians can’t afford to become smug. "What more can we do here in Canada? You know what? I’m not sure there’s a lot more. I think that the Canadian Internet community overall is proactive for a combination of good citizenship and the law in this country. The Canadian government is quick to apply its anti-hate legal system online. That’s the good news. "What’s the bad news? Well, the incident that took place in British Columbia with those (six) Islamist web sites was a huge wakeup call because, here, Canadians aren’t the target, but international terrorists are looking for their parking lot spaces (CNM, Feb. 17/05)…Canadians virtually and in reality do not want to become the parking lot for this kind of activity" Cooper says that while the Canadian government has taken the right approach, it nonetheless needs help to become more Internet-savvy to deal with the high level of sophistication with which he says terrorists are using the web. That effort, he says, will not only help other countries by maintaining vigilance in Canada, but is also important for reasons of self-preservation. "As everybody in Canada likes not to be reminded, one of those democracies listed by (terrorists) and the only one not hit yet, is Canada."

Human rights group applauds Canadian approach on Internet hate sites

Broadcast | April 29, 2005

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