The Nazi Party is outlawed in Germany, as is Nazi propaganda and racist speech. French courts want French people to see other things, too. It ruled last month that Yahoo has three months to find a filter that prevents users in France from using links leading to Web sites selling Nazi memorabilia. The best chance to fight against right-wing material on the Internet is on an international level. Even as America wrestles with hate crime legislation, its advocates recognize the origins of free-speech arguments.
Laws grow out of historical context.
I don't think one society should be able to impose its values on another. The Wiesenthal Center released a study in October indicating that the number of Web sites promoting hate doubled to 3,000 in 1999, attributing most of the growth to European extremist groups moving online. It is that movement which has drawn European courts into battle over Internet issues. What we're seeing is two European countries with differing concepts of free speech, saying that they don't buy into the absolutist interpretation of freedom of speech that prevails in the United States. The clash will resolve itself as a new consensus emerges within the Internet community to minimize the influence of hate speech online, he said.