They can also work far outside the neighborhoods in which they live. Newsgroup hate messages are more like anonymous phone calls or letters that can be sent simultaneously to hundreds or thousands of people. Anonymity, a key part of Internet culture, also plays a role in encouraging on-line hate. There is no requirement that a person accurately identify him or herself. Unless the individual chooses to reveal it, no one need know the user's real name, sex, age or anything else about him or her.
Mass mailings are simple-and require no postage.
It is a merely a matter of compiling a mailing list and sending a message. It is possible to mail hate messages to the private mailboxes of large numbers of people. From time to time, enterprising haters have managed to mass-mail hate materials to tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people without revealing their identity. Obviously, the ADL Annual Audit cannot treat each of these messages as a separate incident. Like other mass mailings of hate material, however, such a massive E-mail transmission could be counted as one incident.