Racism on the Internet

Racism was a pressing social problem long before the emergence of the digital age. The advancement of digital communication technologies such as the Internet has, however, added a new dimension to this problem by providing individuals and organisations with modern and powerful means to propagate racism and xenophobia.

The use of the Internet as an instrument for the widespread dissemination of racist content is assessed in detail by the author. The problem of racist content on the Internet has naturally prompted vigorous responses from a variety of agents, including governments, supranational and international organisations and from the private sector. This book also provides a detailed critical overview of these regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives.

Contents
1. Introduction
+ Quantifying the nature of online hate
+ The nature of online hate
+ Evolving nature of online hate and Web 2.0 technologies
+ Close relationship between racist discourse and racist violence
+ Seeking solutions

2. Key issues: the global and decentralised nature of the + Internet and its impact upon governance
+ What is so different about the Internet?
+ States try to regulate but...
+ Emergence of Internet governance

3. Governance of racist content on the Internet

4. National approaches to Internet governance and its limitations
+ An overview of significant national regulatory initiatives within the Council of Europe region
+ Council of Europe member states' laws and compatibility with freedom of expression
+ An overview of significant national regulatory initiatives outside the Council of Europe region
+ Significant court cases targeting the distribution of racist content on the Internet
+ Yahoo! case (France/USA)
+ Zundel case (Canada/Germany)
+ Toben case (Australia/Germany)
+ Conclusion: limitations of national legal systems are evident

5. Pan-European initiatives
+ Developments at the Council of Europe level
+ Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime
+ Additional Protocol concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems
+ Provisions of the additional protocol
+ Developments at the European Union level
+ Council Framework Decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law
+ The ED Policy on harmful Internet content
+ Developments at the OSCE level

6. International initiatives through the United Nations
+ The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
+ UN Policy work with regard to combating racist Internet content

7. Effectiveness of regional and international regulatory efforts

8. Alternatives to state legislation (self- and co-regulatory initiatives)
+ ISPs and blocking access to illegal content
+ Notice-based liability for ISPs and takedown procedures
+ Contrasting approach adopted in the USA
+ Internet hotlines for reporting illegal content
+ Self-regulation through code: rating and filtering systems
+ Filtering software use in Europe
+ Limited functionality of rating systems
+ Third-party systems and problems with accountability
+ Defective filtering systems
+ Circumvention is possible
+ Freedom of expression and censorship
+ Blocking rather than removal
+ Information, education and awareness campaigns

Conclusion

Appendix I - Council of Europe Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer
systems, ETS No. 189
Appendix II - European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, General Policy Recommendation No. 6: Combating the dissemination of racist, xenophobic and antisemitic material via the Internet, adopted by ECRI on 15 December 2000

Bibliography

ESO: Background information: Legal instruments for combating racism on the Internet http://www.europeansources.info/record/legal-instruments-for-combating-racism-on-the-internet/

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