OSCE Media Representative supports struggle against xenophobia, racism and hate speech on the Internet

VIENNA, 5 September 2003 - On the occasion of the OSCE Conference on Racism, Xenophobia, and Discrimination, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Freimut Duve, once more stressed the importance of fighting hate speech on all media including new electronic networks like the Internet.
"Since the Internet does not offer an equivalent to a bookshop's top shelf, this should be done mainly through information and education," Freimut Duve said. "The Internet does not make any distinction between different kinds of content, thus it is important that all users, especially the young, are able to categorize and criticize problematic content."
"Of course, criminal content cannot be tolerated and must be persecuted in the land of its origin. Police activity and legislation, however, must not target the infrastructure of the Internet itself. Many of the technical ways of regulating like labelling, filtering or blocking of content endanger this still growing infrastructure. This is supported by many studies," he said.
Mr. Duve said that the Internet offered a "treasure chest of valuable information, even to counteract hate speech", and called it an unprecedented means for the exchange of ideas and information.
"Thus, while a clear position against xenophobia, racism, and hate speech should be taken, new means of regulation must be established very carefully in order to guarantee freedom of the media in the future."
This position is also expressed in the Amsterdam Declaration which was issued at the conference 'Freedom of the Media and the Internet' in June 2003. A book with results from this conference will be published in October 2003.