Group Reveals More Than 8,000 Disturbing Hate Sites On The Internet

[Anonymous]

http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_28271.aspx

The Internet can be a lawless wild west, filled with as much evil as good. And there aren't many ways to combat the former as this spider of hatred spins its sticky poison across the web.

That's one of the chilling conclusions in a Simon Wiesenthal Center report on hate sites on the net, identifying at least 8,000 known postings or web addresses spreading hatred or intolerance, a frightening 30 per cent increase over last year.

Neo-Nazi groups, known terror organizations, white supremacist followers, the Ku Klux Klan and more were all cited as having created pages - and many of them are not on some fringe sites that only members have access to or would know about.

Some have established a presence on Facebook, YouTube or Second Life, and even in online games, blogs and chatrooms, attracting unsuspecting converts who happen to use the popular sites. And many are very subtle about what they preach, making it hard to discern their real meaning.

The "iReport" as it's known, also contains a disturbing CD highlighting some of the more outrageous examples. "How To Behead" reads one article, which purportedly tells extremists how to commit the terrible act. Another odiously proclaims that multiculturalism is the "rape and murder of the white race."

The CD is being sent to every Member of Parliament and provincial justice minister as an example of what's going on over the Internet. It was also handed out at a special ceremony held at the Center's Yonge St. headquarters Monday, where Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and his York Region counterpart Armand La Barge were honoured for their work enforcing hate laws and initiating officer sensitivity training.

Both agree the web has made it harder than ever to keep these terrible falsehoods from spreading.

"It is difficult to prosecute hate crimes and most of the successful prosecutions have dealt with ... mischief to property which were hate based or assault," Blair concedes. "One of the great challenges facing law enforcement is prosecuting Internet-based hate crime.

"We can see that it's quite pervasive. It's accessible right across North America, and unfortunately many of the people realize that the Internet does not recognize national boundaries."

La Barge concurs that action has to be taken as soon as the blight appears. "Sitting idly by and doing nothing is no longer the solution to the problem, and history has taught us that it can lead to terrible catastrophes and terrible tragedies throughout this world. But it's important to do something."

What can you do if you stumble across such a site? "When a hate site surfaces on a Canadian server, we need the help of everyday people to report them to the abuse departments of relevant Internet Service Providers," advises the Wiesenthal Center's Leo Adler. Then call police.

"Without an official complaint," he concludes, "we can't effect change."

Read the iREport here.

How to Fight Back

What if you or your kids stumble onto one of these sites? Here's a 10-point plan the Center suggests you can use to keep your kids out of the clutches of these master manipulators.

1. Hate is never cool. That means it's never OK to download racist music or play online hate games -no matter who the target.

2. Help teach your child to learn to verify online postings. Go to websites that claim to teach people about various religions - but instead demonize its followers; show a page that claims to present new perspectives on slavery but actually seeks to whitewash a historic evil. Discuss a site that claims to teach about Martin Luther King Jr.'s achievements but actually seeks to tarnish his legacy.

3. Provide tools - on and offline - that will help your child develop critical thinking. Make sure your child's school is also addressing these issues.

4. Make sure your child understands the difference between legitimate criticism or analysis and hate that seeks to rewrite history.

5. If you agree that "the line was crossed", make the effort to contact the ISP. Urge them to abide by the Terms of Service and remove the posting and take action against the online bigotry. Involve your child in this process. Teach them words have consequences; so should actions. Push the ISP to respond beyond a generic email response.

6. If the web posting constitutes a quantifiable threat contact your local hate crimes unit

7. Email ireport@wiesenthal.com.

9. Since 9/11, the Internet has emerged as a critical component of terrorists and their enablers for recruitment, command, control and propaganda. Among its 39 Principles, Al Qaeda lists 'Electronic Jihad'. Young people are key targets of this effort, on blogs, in newsgroups and with the new 2.0 technologies. They need to let you know immediately when they come across any postings, videos, etc from Islamist extremists or neo-Nazi killers.

10. Go on the offensive. The Internet community and governments need to invest in best practices, including multilingual leveraging of Internet technologies, in order to thwart the terrorists and racists campaigns to win over young recruits to their culture of hate and death.

[Anonymous]

I sent an email for help with a hate website

Please help

I have been reading some of the most hateful things against semitic people. It is very hurtful and a disgusting display of blatant racism. This site and group should be taken down and thrown in jail. Please investigate and arrest these hate criminals. They should not have the right to think the way they do. There should be a law against thought crime, in fact these thought criminals should have a mandatory brain implant to control their thoughts. Please help us from these criminals. The website is www.adl.org.

Thank you
John of the Family Savage

[Loxxa]

When you have a rat problem what do you do?