[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 9, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1070-E1071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            ``HATE ON THE INTERNET''--REMARKS OF JERRY TURK

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 9, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, while the Internet is a wonderful 
technological tool providing information on a host of subjects and 
permitting the rapid dissemination of great deal of information on an 
incredible variety of topics, the Internet is also being used by hate 
mongers and bigots to peddle their nefarious lies.
  A few days ago, my dear friend Mr. Jerry Turk, the President of the 
Las Vegas Office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), delivered an 
excellent speech at the ADL's Distinguished Community Service Award 
Dinner in Las Vegas. His remarks ``Hate on the Internet'' are an 
excellent introduction to the problem of the abuse of the Internet by 
racist fanatics and a discussion of the difficulties that we face in 
attempting to deal with this serious issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I submit Jerry Turk's remarks to be placed in the The 
Record, and I urge my colleagues to give them thoughtful consideration. 
This is a matter of considerable importance, and we in the Congress 
need to be aware of it.

 ``Hate on the Internet,'' Remarks by Jerry Turk, President of the Las 
            Vegas Office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

       Just for the moment this evening, I would like to ask each 
     one of you for a favor. Please imagine yourself sitting at 
     your computer, accessing the Internet--whether through 
     America On Line, Netscape, Microsoft's Explorer, or 
     whatever--and being told you have E-mail. Then, upon checking 
     your mail, you read the following message:
       Subject: ``Idiotic Jews who waste their lives away.
       Message: All you worthless Jews should go to hell, together 
     with your lame-ass skull caps.
       Die, you worthless, good for nothing, Christ-killers.''
       This is a portion of an actual E-mail that was sent to 
     thousands of people, which was turned over to the Anti-
     Defamation League by a recipient that was a subscriber to a 
     Jewish issues publication.
       The ADL, which was founded 85 years ago, is in the 
     forefront of the struggle for civil rights in America. ADL, 
     through its many offices, combats all forms of prejudice, 
     bigotry, anti-semitism, discrimination and hate.
       Our Las Vegas offices has existed for about two years, and 
     because of the help of many of you who are here this evening, 
     it has made great progress in carrying out its mission. 
     However, in spite of all of our accomplishments, Hate on the 
     Internet is posing a new, very formidable challenge. ADL is 
     working towards meeting this challenge. However, this task is 
     not easy, as ``High-Tech Hate'' is not only growing, but 
     is becoming more diverse. Let me give you some examples:
       On one of a number of Ku Klux Klan web sites, one can play 
     the Klan's version of hangman. The user gets to hang a 
     character called, and I quote, ``Leroy'', an African-American 
     male. Once you have completed the lynching, the computer 
     screams, ``you win''; or
       Perhaps you are aware that the holocaust was a fraud and it 
     never happened. Allow me to quote from a notorious holocaust 
     denier's web site: ``For fifty years the press, Hollywood, 
     radio, television, and public schools have saturated us with 
     the story that the National Socialist government of Germany 
     carried out an extermination program against the Jews. This 
     is the famous Jewish Holocaust, in which Jews claim six 
     million of their kind were gassed, burned, and made into soap 
     and lamp shades by the Germans. European and American 
     historians and researchers, mostly non-Germans, have shown 
     conclusively that the Holocaust story is a complete fraud.
       ``Why would such a monstrous fraud be attempted in the 
     first place? The answer is billions of dollars in extortion 
     money, political power, and Jewish racial/cultural 
     solidarity. The Holocaust is used to extort hundreds of 
     billions of dollars from American and German taxpayers''; or
       The following passage from the same site, which site by the 
     way, runs in excess of 10 pages:
       ``The Diary of Anne Frank was shown in 1980 to be another 
     crude example of hate propaganda. In a series of court cases 
     the entire diary was definitively shown to have been written 
     by the same person, but that person often used ball-point pen 
     ink which was not manufactured until 1951, years after Anne 
     Frank's death from disease! The fact that many people still 
     believe this hoax shows the effectiveness of Jewish control 
     in our media and schools, where children in America, Germany 
     and elsewhere are still forced to read this Jewish hate 
     propaganda.
       Finally, from David Duke on Tiger Woods from his extensive 
     web site:
       ``A number of White men will be suckered in by a wave of 
     admiration and emotion for one Black golf player into 
     believing that the Black race can fit in and do well among 
     the White race. That is simply untrue. Some individual Blacks 
     obviously can. But, as a whole, the race cannot. For the 
     mental abilities that go into the making and maintaining of a 
     civilization are not the same as the requirements for a great 
     golf player. The qualities that account for the advancing and 
     maintaining of a scientific and civilized society are simply 
     not the same as the qualities to run a 100 meters under 10 
     seconds or dunk a basketball, or for that matter, break the 
     Masters record as a rookie.
       With the avalanche of equality propaganda, millions who 
     admire Woods might pleasantly imagine that an unknown Black 
     young man who wants to move into the apartment next door will 
     be like a Tiger Woods. The truth is that he is exponentially 
     more likely to be like a Willie Horton or a Rodney King.''
       As you can see, the World Wide Web is fertile ground for 
     hate-mongers with hate ideas. Our children are especially 
     vulnerable to these materials, because they are most likely 
     to accept them as fact. At the end of 1997, there were an 
     estimated 56 million people in the United States using the 
     Internet. It is estimated that by the end of 1998 this number 
     will grow to 75 million.
       Anyone can legally start a site on the Internet, and once 
     started they can published anything they please. There is no 
     requirement that the author of a web site accurately identify 
     him or herself. The same is true of a user of a web site. 
     Hate messages on the Internet have been likened to anonymous 
     phone calls or letters, except these messages can be sent 
     simultaneously to hundreds of thousands of people. These 
     bigots can spew their hatred without ever running the risk of 
     being identified. Unlike traditional media, where publishers, 
     editors and reviewers are able to separate out lies and 
     distortions, the Internet makes all kinds of information 
     available.
       As these individuals and organizations spread their venom 
     across the World Wide Web, what can we do--what can the ADL 
     do? I can tell you the ADL is struggling on how to combat 
     this hate in whatever form it takes. The dilemma here, 
     however, is how to expose this filth and help protect people 
     from it, without violating our first amendment rights.
       One approach ADL is taking is working with America On Line 
     to design software that will filter out all sites it 
     considers to be engaged in the spread of hate. However, all 
     ADL can do is make a recommendation to the user, because in 
     the final analysis, each individual user will have to make 
     their own choice.
       ADL, nationally, as well as here is Las Vegas, is working 
     diligently to address these and other equally important 
     issues. But it cannot do so without your help. We need your 
     help now to build our Las Vegas ADL office into the leader it 
     has to be for our community.
       If you truly care about the Las Vegas Valley; if you truly 
     care about the intellectual environment our children are 
     exposed to; if you truly care about the future of our 
     community, you will support the Anti-Defamation League. I 
     need you, ADL's board needs you, the community needs you, but 
     most importantly, your family needs you--to help. Please 
     help. Please be there. Remember, if not you--then who?


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