- LONDON (Reuters) - Authors
of emails and Internet postings that contain racist or xenophobic material
may face criminal charges under a proposed European treaty that is dividing
the Internet and law enforcement communities.
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- The proposal, drafted by the Council of Europe, would
essentially outlaw the publishing of "hate speech" on the Internet.
Welcomed by law enforcement agencies, it has been slammed by Internet firms
as impossible to enforce.
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- The agreement would create a comprehensive legal framework
for international crimefighters as they strive to identify and prosecute
cross-border hate crimes on the Internet, an area politicians are eager
to crack down on in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
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- "We must harmonize the laws first so that countries
can cooperate in criminal investigations regarding the Internet,"
Peter Csonka, principal administrator at the Council of Europe, told Reuters
on Friday. He added that many member states have already criminalized certain
activities regarded as racist or xenophobic -- such as threatening a group
on the grounds of race, color or religion -- and that the treaty would
seek to extend that onto the Net.
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- FREE SPEECH OR RACIAL HATRED? The proposal has already
provoked protest from civil liberties groups who maintain the proposal
could criminalize free speech, and from some Internet firms concerned over
liability issues.
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- Csonka said that telecommunications firms and Internet
service providers have contacted the council asking for clarification on
whether they would be held liable for hate speech posted or emailed by
their customers.
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- Internet Service Providers (ISPs) typically operate a
policy of "notification and takedown," in which they will remove
sites containing objectionable material if it's first brought to their
attention. Self-policing in this manner, they say, is the best way to tackle
hate speech online.
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- "It's almost impossible, and this is the consensus
in the IPS community too, to monitor every single piece of Web space in
the Internet community," said Paul Barker, director of corporate affairs
at Freeserve, the British ISP owned by France's Wanadoo .
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- Csonka said the liability concerns raised by ISPs and
Web site operators have not yet been addressed.
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- Civil liberty groups have also objected to the proposal,
fearing it could bring the more rigorous anti-hate speech laws that exist
in continental Europe to the more liberal UK and U.S.
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- For example, it is unlawful to post or sell Nazi regalia
or propaganda on the Internet in France and Germany, but there are few
legal curbs in the U.S. and Britain.
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- "This proposal could potentially outlaw free speech,"
said Malcolm Hutty, general director for Campaign Against Censorship on
the Internet in Britain, or CACIB. "That would be a great infringement
of civil rights."
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- CACIB and sister organizations of online rights group,
the Global Internet Liberty Campaign, have begun to formulate a campaign
to raise awareness for the new policy.
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- The Convention on Cybercrime is the fruit of unprecedented
international cooperation, receiving input from 43 European countries plus
the United States, Japan, Canada and South Africa.
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- Drafted by the Council of Europe, a pan-European legal
forum which works for the harmonization of laws across the continent, the
treaty would need individual ratification by each before it is adopted
into law. It has so far been signed, but not yet ratified, by 32 nations.
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- The "hate speech" amendment is expected to
be brought into the convention this July, officials said, after the current
public input period ends.
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