Internet Industry Perspective: NetCoalition
Markham Erickson, of NetCoalition, a trade group representing Internet companies such as Yahoo and Google. is now giving a presentation on the industry perpsecitve on what he refers to as "objectionable" content on the Internet. He contends that the Internet companies, such as Google and Yahoo, rely on monitoring by the public to report offensive material because there are
Erickson talks briefly about the controversy over the query term"jew" and the result "JewWatch" in Google. This changed (somewhat) with advocacy groups changing their metatags to include the term "jew," and Google put other sponsored sites in response to that query term. Basically, he points to this as an instance of success of the ISP's in responding to these issues.
Recommends: education, particuarly the youn; parental involvement and supervision, NGO activism, technical solutions, prosecution when sites cross into criminal behavior (violence & fraud).
Erickson mentions the OSCE Conference in Paris, and highlights this quote to encapsulate the industry's stance on hate online:
"Rather than fear the purveyors of hate, let us confront them in the marketplace of ideas, where the bright light of truth will expose their bigotry and their lies can be unmasked."
- Stephen Minikes, Ambassador to the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, as delivered to the June 17, 2004 OSCE Meeting on the Relationship between Racist, Xenophobia, and Anti-Semitic Propaganda on the Internet and Hate Crimes.
The way to combat hateful ideas is not to have someone in the government regulate it, but to have more robust speech in the marketplace of ideas, and the ideas which are not objectionable will win the day.
Erickson talks briefly about the controversy over the query term"jew" and the result "JewWatch" in Google. This changed (somewhat) with advocacy groups changing their metatags to include the term "jew," and Google put other sponsored sites in response to that query term. Basically, he points to this as an instance of success of the ISP's in responding to these issues.
Recommends: education, particuarly the youn; parental involvement and supervision, NGO activism, technical solutions, prosecution when sites cross into criminal behavior (violence & fraud).
Erickson mentions the OSCE Conference in Paris, and highlights this quote to encapsulate the industry's stance on hate online:
"Rather than fear the purveyors of hate, let us confront them in the marketplace of ideas, where the bright light of truth will expose their bigotry and their lies can be unmasked."
- Stephen Minikes, Ambassador to the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, as delivered to the June 17, 2004 OSCE Meeting on the Relationship between Racist, Xenophobia, and Anti-Semitic Propaganda on the Internet and Hate Crimes.
The way to combat hateful ideas is not to have someone in the government regulate it, but to have more robust speech in the marketplace of ideas, and the ideas which are not objectionable will win the day.
posted by Jessie Daniels at
11:45 AM
