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FC: SurfControl dubs libertarian discussion site "hate speech"

------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 02:43:54 -0400 From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> To: politech@politechbot.com Subject: FC: SurfControl dubs libertarian discussion site "hate speech" Send reply to: declan@well.com

http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&1Board=news_computers&Number=233878&t=-1#Post233878

Libertarian Free-Speech site categorized as *Hate Speech* site by SurfControl LibertyForum September 18, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Libertarians Speak and Nannies Freak

CYBERSPACE - September 19, 2002: LibertyForum (http://www.libertyforum.org), a libertarian web-based news and political discussion site, has been listed as a "hate speech" site shortly after its September 13, 2002 opening. This categorization comes courtesy of SurfControl (http://www.surfcontrol.com), which characterizes itself as "The World's Leading Web Filtering Software Company." A capture of LibertyForum's Home Page (http://www.libertyforum.org/free-speech/020918_home.html) at the time the information was first posted by a forum member, reveals "Editor's Choice" articles with titles such as, "Libertarian Party's Women Release Calendar," "Was Jesus a Pacifist?," "Socialism and Capital Stock," as well as a couple of articles with titles such as "Racism and Collectivism: A series," and "Racism and Collectivism: Racism FAQ." The latter two articles criticizing racism as a form of collectivism and thus antithetical to libertarian principles. LibertyForum is a self-described free-speech site, where members discuss and debate, often heatedly, news stories and topics such as economics, philosophy, religion, drugs, the Middle East, international affairs, computers, and technology. It currently has a growing membership of over 700 members and a daily posting volume of 1,500 to 2,000 posts per day. The site is self-regulating to a large degree and utilizes a Post Rating System based on Slashdot.org's (http://Slashdot.org) "Karma" moderation system which allows its members to rate posts based on their content. Posts that contain personal insults or bigoted comments are routinely rated down by the site's membership, as are "trolls," purposely inflammatory posts intended to evoke strong reactions. Interestingly, a cursory search of SurfControl reveals that other discussion sites with a longer history and far greater membership than LibertyForum, are not categorized as "Hate Speech," even though their content is often far more extreme than that found at LibertyForum. One such example is FreeRepublic (http://www.freerepublic.com), a popular site with conservatives, that bills itself as "The Premier Conservative News Forum." A Google search of FreeRepublic for the word "ragheads," a derogatory term for Arabs, returns links to comments such as "I think the IDF has been thinking payback for over a decade. It should be fun to watch, when it happens. Molten ragheads all around." (Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/624469/posts?page=44#44) Yet SurfControl categorizes FreeRepublic as "Government & Politics." John Deere, one of the site's founders, finds it "ironic, that we would be termed a 'hate speech' site, since one of our goals is to challenge and debunk the fallacious attitudes that racism and collectivism are composed of." He continues, "Ayn Rand wrote, 'Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism. It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political significance to a man's genetic lineage . . . . Which means, in practice, that a man is to be judged not by his own character and actions, but by characteristics and actions of a collective of ancestors,' " and adds that "libertarians are first and foremost advocates of the individual and of individual responsibility. Racism is, at its core, a violation of our libertarian principles." As a result of SurfControl's listing of LibertyForum as a "hate speech" site, access to the site is blocked for subscribers and users of SurfControl's web filtering software. Businesses, concerned about legal liability often implement web filtering content to keep employees from accessing content on the internet that might leave the employer open to lawsuits. Families also use web filtering software to limit access to internet content for children and teens. John Deere states that he will be contacting SurfControl immediately to determine what can be done to remove LibertyForum from its "Hate Speech" category, and wonders at the speed with which the newly opened site was negatively categorized by SurfControl. "It certainly is peculiar," he concludes. LibertyForum is found at http://www.libertyforum.org . Contact: John Deere forums@libertyforum.org http://www.libertyforum.org ###

Edited by John Deere on 09/19/02 11:53 PM. Editor: Excerpt from article: LibertyForum (http://www.libertyforum.org), a libertarian web-based news and political discussion site, has been listed as a "hate speech" site shortly after its September 13, 2002 opening. This categorization comes courtesy of SurfControl (http://www.surfcontrol.com), which characterizes itself as "The World's Leading Web Filtering Software Company."

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