Caroline Bolte
While the Internet has made it possible for millions worldwide to access a wealth of information and technology, it has also created troubling problems for modern society. At the VBA Annual Meeting on January 14, two general sessions focused on the topics of online hate speech and cybercrime.
"The best response to hate speech is more speech," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance. According to the Los Angeles-based Cooper, there are only about 25,000 to 40,000 extremists in the United States—a small group in the general population. More problematic, though, are the more than 2000 easily accessible hate-speech sites on the Internet. "Some of these sites are targeting children as young as nine or 10 years of age."
To disastrous results. "[The massacre at] Columbine would not have happened without the Internet," said Rabbi Cooper, adding that the Wiesenthal Center accessed one student gunman's computer three hours after the shooting took place. "Harris and Klebold had created a version of the game 'Doom' that was a practice session for a mass execution."
Hate sites allow their creators to have a public presence, yet remain detached from whatever mayhem may ensue. Such was the case of Midwestern serial killer Benjamin Smith, who was linked to the World Church of the Creator ("which really hates Christianity"). When questioned by reporters following Smith's shooting spree, World Church leader Matt Hale stated only that Smith had moved away from the group.
Internet hate sites appeal to such reclusive "lone wolves," more so than mass movements. One hate group's motto is "If there is a threat to the white race in America, you can do anything," be it a hate crime or domestic terrorism.
Without librarians to monitor Internet usage, young students may find themselves using hate sites for research. Rabbi Cooper described one website, www.mlking.org, which at first appears to be a legitimate site devoted to the late Martin Luther King Jr.—but is actually run by extremists to denigrate Dr. King's life and work.
The Wiesenthal Center recently persuaded online booksellers to stop selling Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf in Germany, a violation of German anti-Nazi laws. The Center also helped close 90 hate sites set up through the "Yahoo Club" website-creation format. "We asked the people at Yahoo.com, 'Do you have rules for Yahoo Clubs? Do you have contracts?' They didn't know.
"The Web is not a debating society. It's there for marketing and advertising. We need to apply pre-Net rules: create a policy and stick to it," said Rabbi Cooper. "The Wiesenthal Center is not looking to regulate the Internet, but it is important to put a crimp into hate sites. Americans have a right not to do business with those who promote hate."
To illustrate his perspective, Rabbi Cooper referred to the Old Testament. "The story of the Tower of Babel makes us question: Should humanity be in the service of technology, or should technology be in service to humanity?"
In closing, Rabbi Cooper quoted the scholar Maimonides. "It is a mitzvah (praiseworthy deed) to ask those who come before you in judgment, 'Are you interested in compromise?' If you can get the parties to compromise, you seek peace and justice. What kind of justice also includes peace? Compromise."
Online hate speech is alarming enough, but the specters of cybercrime and cyberterrorism are even more so.
"This is a whole new form of warfare where everyone is a target," said James Adams, CEO of Infrastructure Defense, Inc., adding that "one of the most potent weapons available is a laptop computer... Never in history has there been a time like this. The technological revolution is marching forward, but I don't see government matching its pace."
James Dempsey, senior staff counsel at Washington's Center for Democracy and Technology, pointed out that one important trend of the Internet Age is that law enforcement officers are now dealing with situations previously left to national security forces.
Stevan Mitchell of the U.S. Department of Justice referred to the 1997 report of the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, which recognized an increasing risk of cybercrime and recommended starter measures to improve government assurance efforts, enable the private sector to take protective action, and overcome legal impediments.
Jeffrey Hunker, senior director of the Infrastructure Protection National Security Council, advocated partnerships as a means of addressing cybercrime issues. "We are starting a partnership in which we will recruit college students to concentrate in cybersecurity issues, with the understanding that they will work for the government for a set number of years. In return, the government pays for their education."
He emphasized the need for local, national and international agendas on cybersecurity issues. "Speed—of technology, of policy—is the key."
Editor's Note: In February, less than a month after the cybercrime program at the VBA Annual Meeting, computer vandals attacked some of the most widely-used sites on the Internet.
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