ZGram - 11/9/2002 - "Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

November 9, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Now let's see if the American First Amendment holds up against the 
surrender of the Europeans.  If it doesn't, it will drive the 
struggle for Freedom of Speech on the Net underground:

[START]

Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech

Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech
By Julia Scheeres
 
The Council of Europe has adopted a measure that would criminalize 
Internet hate speech, including hyperlinks to pages that contain 
offensive content.
 
The provision, which was passed by the council's decision-making body 
(the Committee of Ministers), updates the European Convention on 
Cybercrime.
 
Specifically, the amendment bans "any written material, any image or 
any other representation of ideas or theories, which advocates, 
promotes or incites hatred, discrimination or violence, against any 
individual or group of individuals, based on race, colour, descent or 
national or ethnic origin, as well as religion if used as pretext for 
any of these factors."
 
It also obliquely refers to the Holocaust, outlawing sites that deny, 
minimize, approve or justify crimes against humanity, particularly 
those that occurred during World War II.
 
"The emergence of international communication networks like the 
Internet provide certain persons with modern and powerful means to 
support racism and xenophobia and enables them to disseminate easily 
and widely expressions containing such ideas," the council's report 
on the amendment states. "In order to investigate and prosecute such 
persons, international cooperation is vital."
 
Many European countries have existing laws outlawing Internet racism, 
which is generally protected as free speech in the United States. The 
council cited a report finding that 2,500 out of 4,000 racist sites 
were created in the United States.
 
Critics say that the measure may push hate groups to set up virtual 
shop in the United States, pointing to a decision last year by a U.S. 
judge who ruled that Yahoo did not have to block French citizens' 
access to online sales of Nazi memorabilia, which are illegal in that 
country. The judge determined that U.S. websites are only subject to 
American law.
 
"This could lead to a clash of cultures," said Cedric Laurant, a 
Belgian lawyer and staff counsel with the Electronic Privacy and 
Information Center. "What will happen if the French police start 
asking local U.S. police to give them information about the people 
running a site?"
 
European countries may decide to censor U.S. content themselves, as 
Spain has done, suggested Carlos S=B7nchez Almeida, a cybercrime lawyer 
located in Barcelona.
 
Spain recently passed legislation authorizing judges to shut down 
Spanish sites and block access to U.S. Web pages that don't comply 
with national laws.
 
"If European countries adopt the (anti-racism) amendment of the 
European Council in their legislatures, they'll also be able to block 
websites from the U.S.A., despite the First Amendment."
 
Representatives of the 44 European countries on the European Council 
must decide whether to adopt or reject the measure during the next 
Parliamentary Assembly session in January. Countries who support the 
amendment will then need to ratify it in their national legislatures 
before making it law.

=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

(Source:  =1FFrom Wired News, available online at:

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,56294,00.html
11-9-2

[END]