Paris meeting begins with calls on OSCE participating States to act against hate speech on the Internet

PARIS, 16 June 2004 - A two-day international meeting has begun in Paris with several countries calling on the 55 States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to take measures against hate speech and racist propaganda on the Internet.

In his opening speech, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told the more than 300 participants that the increase in acts motivated by intolerance in France showed that preventive measures, while necessary, were not enough.

"We have to be able to act directly against those that commit these crimes," he said. "On our own territory, we have decided to take measures against these activities, by toughening the laws dealing with crimes motivated by racism, anti-Semitism or xenophobia, by holding Internet providers responsible for their sites, and by systematically searching for hate speech in the media.

"However, one State can only do so much. The Internet does not have any boundaries. The OSCE must become an 'observatory to identify and help propagate best practices, and, based on this work, it must also act as a 'laboratory' where, for example, a code of conduct could be developed," the Foreign Minister said.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, also urged the Organization's participating States to make it clear that they were serious about tackling hate speech on the Internet.

"They should undertake measures to strengthen international co-operation and mutual assistance between law enforcement authorities to ensure that effective action can be taken against the dissemination of racist, xenophobic and anti-Semitic material via the Internet," he said.

At the same time, Passy cautioned against over-regulating the "incredible diversity provided by the Internet or limiting the free exchange of ideas and information.

"The best approach is self-regulation or co-regulation, through developing codes of conduct, and through increasing users' and providers' awareness and sensitivity to the problem," he added.

The Chairman-in-Office also urged the OSCE to increase its efforts to reach out to young people in order to improve their understanding of the need for tolerance.

The event, which is being hosted by the French Government, is the second in a series of three OSCE meetings this year focusing on tolerance and anti-discrimination. It follows a high-profile conference on anti-Semitism, held in Berlin at the end of April, with the series concluding in September at an international conference in Brussels on tolerance and the fight against racism, xenophobia and discrimination.