Posted: 17th Jun, 2004 By: MarkJ
Officials from over 60 global countries have been meeting in France to discuss ways of combating racism on the Internet. As usual, nobody can agree a solution:
France wants tougher regulations, and believes there is a direct link between racist propaganda on the web and a surge in hate crimes in recent years. But the US says it is against any restrictions on freedom of speech.
"We are at a particular 'hinge' moment in our common fight against intolerance," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told the conference in Paris.
"Our responsibility is to underline that by its own characteristics - notably, immediacy and anonymity - the internet has seduced the networks of intolerance."On the one hand you have freedom of speech, while on the other you need to draw a line under what can and can not be considered racist without taking it to another extreme of censorship not easy. More @
BBC News Online.