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Monday • April 14, 1997
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^ 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.'’
| â–  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.”
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