Robert Bandanza
October 2nd, 2009, 10:54 AM
NEW YORK -- As the real world grows more tolerant of differences, the virtual world grows with hatred.
Complaints against groups on social networking sites that call for threats, violence and hatred toward people who are Jewish, black, gay or have disabilities are on the rise even as Americans celebrate the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the country rallies around its first black president, and gay marriage is legalized in some states.
An application on Facebook asks people to answer a quiz so they can see what "famous retard" they are most like. A Maryland police officer hosts a site with more than 100,000 members that tells people to "Stop breaking the law, retard." In July, a YouTube video hosted by "ExecutetheGays1" provided graphic suggestions about how to kill homosexuals. The site was taken down after five days.
The Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate speech on the Web, says complaints are up this year more than 200% through July, to 1,512 complaints."This whole era of cyberhate is one of the biggest challenges we face," says Deborah Lauter, civil rights director of the league. "We've gotten to a place where we made it unacceptable for haters to hate in the public space." So they turn to the Web, where they can be anonymous.
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=18805
Complaints against groups on social networking sites that call for threats, violence and hatred toward people who are Jewish, black, gay or have disabilities are on the rise even as Americans celebrate the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the country rallies around its first black president, and gay marriage is legalized in some states.
An application on Facebook asks people to answer a quiz so they can see what "famous retard" they are most like. A Maryland police officer hosts a site with more than 100,000 members that tells people to "Stop breaking the law, retard." In July, a YouTube video hosted by "ExecutetheGays1" provided graphic suggestions about how to kill homosexuals. The site was taken down after five days.
The Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate speech on the Web, says complaints are up this year more than 200% through July, to 1,512 complaints."This whole era of cyberhate is one of the biggest challenges we face," says Deborah Lauter, civil rights director of the league. "We've gotten to a place where we made it unacceptable for haters to hate in the public space." So they turn to the Web, where they can be anonymous.
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=18805