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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 1997)
Aggi Page 3 Monday • April 14, 1997 bttP-/ / ww-MTLcoin ^ Debate rages over hate groups' right to post sites on the Internet By Aaron Meier The Battalion A young boy decides he will do a school report on the television and cable industry. He goes to the library and looks up facts about various industry leaders. He notices one of these compa- nies. Alpha Technologies, has an address |' f on the World Wide Wei). I le memorizes the 1 address, goes home and decides to pursue some extra credit by seeing what Alpha Technologies has to otter. Accidentally, he types the last three let ters of die address incorrectly so die address f reads "www.aipha.org'’ — not Alpha Tech- lliologies’ address, “www.alpha.com.'’ In- | stead of seeing the homepage of the Wash- |,iigton-based company, he sees a red ngle and a message declaring the site is Aryans Only.” This boy has stumbled across one of many hate groups who have sites on the Internet. From sites telling what a favorite movie star is doing to those explaining hat the weather in Belgium is like, the nteniet offers a plethora of information. David Gershom Myers, an associate professor of English, has visited hate- group sites on the Internet, specifically the sites dealing with anti-Semitism. ,-Jf; "What these sites offer is not informa- e 7 i|on,'' saici Myers, who is of Jewish ancestry. : ^ It is lies mistaken for information. I hey are I Piles offered as though they were the truth.'’ | ■ Myers said he is not surprised such . groups have published their views on ’ 2 Web. ^Anti- Semitism takes the form of vvhat- ever is popular,” Myers said. “In Nazi Ger- mauy, books that discussed hatred of the jwere best-sellers.” Myers said his main concern about Bln ternet sites are people whp deny the Rality of the Holocaust. A site located on fserver of Northwestern University was jctally troubling to Myers. Authored by Professor Arthur R. Butz, ; associate professor of electrical and imputer engineering at Northwestern, Jpe site printed excerpts from his 1976 book titled. The Hoax of l the Twentieth Cen- fftery, which discussed the study of ‘‘Holocaust revi sionism,” as well as other works Butz wrote. Myers, who earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern, said Northwestern's decision to allow Butz's homepage to remain online violates the basic ideals of the school. "The purpose of a University is the pursuit of truth,” Myers said. “If I, as a professor, spread around lies, I would be fired. They are spreading around lies. I am ap palled at the moral cow ardice of the university and am ashamed to be associated with it.” Butz declined to comment on his work or Myers’ statements. Northwestern Uni versity’s Internet home page contains a Web dis claimer about the content of the resources it offers. "Northwestern makes (World Wide Web) resources available to all segments of the Northwestern community, but does not review, edit or endorse all items accessible from those pages,” the dis claimer reads. In a similar decision, America Online (AOL), the country’s largest Internet service provider, announced its decision to allow the Ku Klux Kian Realm of Texas to main tain a homepage through their service. Donavan Wheatfall, president of the Texas A&M Chapter of the National Asso ciation for the Advancement of Colored People and junior business analysis major, said AOL’s decision directly conflicts with its image as a “family” service. "When corporate America endorses such hatred, it is counterproduc tive to their message of family,” Wlieat- - mm pllifi ISmM “There are millions of kids developing their own beliefs that will stumble on this site at a crucial moment in their lives." Donavan Wheatfall president, NAACP Texas A&M chapter fall said. T, as a potential subscriber to AOL, question tlieir honesty when they hold such a double standard.” Wendy Goldberg, an AOL spokesper son, spoke with Wired News about its de cision to allow the KKK Realm of Texas page to remain on its server. ‘“The ideas inherent in this page may be con troversial, they may be repugnant, but they’re not in a form that vio lates the {AOL] Terms of Service,'” Goldberg told Wired News. The KKK Realm of Texas’ homepage does not propose violence. The text of the page states the beliefs of the KKK. Some terms on the page, however, have brought AOL’s decision under fire. “In their latter days, America has been cleverly deceived by the lies or the race- mixers and mongrelizers into believing an insane notion — that two peoples can occupy the same place at the same time in harmony,” the section titled ‘Our Dilemma’ reads. Wheatfall said he believes the First Amendment protection the KKK seeks is the group’s right, but should be limited. “What we have here is an ignorant bunch of people using a smart law to help themselves,” Wheatfall said. Both Myers and Wheat- fall said restrictions need to be placed on who can access sites such as those designed by hate organizations. “There is nothing wrong with limiting access,” Myers said. “As a country; we do it all the time. However, I believe the ITS. government should not interfere. Private organizations should band together to make access to these sites more difficult.” Wheatfall said consumers of the Inter net need to send a message to companies who allow these websites on their servers. “The message has to get out that this bigotry will not be accepted,” Wheatfall said. Without proper action, Wheatfall said, the integrity of future generations will be compromised. “The youth of America is where we should be focusing our attention,” he said. "If we forget about them, then the blame shifts from the hate groups to ourselves.” Wheatfall said while such views have the right to be expressed, limitations need to be set on what can be accessed on the Internet. “There are millions of kids develop ing their own beliefs that will stumble on this site at a crucial moment in their lives,” Wheatfall said. “We need to lim it as much as possible the access they have to this hatred, this racism, this bigotry.” v 5 - xV ' i m . ■ ■ ' J 0 pK'* pllS' 1 idfS* Ba® Come Hang With Us at Question: What sport has the biggest playing field? (First 5 to call with answer get free review!) 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