13 Winter 2015-2016 Rwanda. Elsewhere I have argued that in hate messages, members of the targeted group are characterized as devoid of any redeeming qualities and as innately evil. Banishment, segregation and eradication of the targeted group are proposed to save others from the harm being perpetrated by this group. By using highly inflammatory and derogatory language, expressing extreme hatred and contempt, and through comparisons to and associations with animals, vermin, excrement and other noxious substances, hate messages dehumanize the targeted groups.18 Hate messages undermine the dignity and self-worth of the targeted group members and they erode the tolerance and open mindedness that should flourish in democratic societies committed to the ideas of pluralism, justice and equality. Hate messages undermine the targets' equal status in their community, their entitlement to basic justice and to the fundamentals of their reputation. Hate speech might lead to mental and emotional distress, racial discrimination and political disenfranchisement.19 Furthermore, hate speech might lead to hate crimes. Hate should not be taken lightly. Internalizing hatred can motivate and push bigots into action. Violent speech may lead to violent action. When a direct link can be established between hate speech and hate crime, this is where we draw the line. Freedom of speech is of vital importance but it must be confined. Freedom of speech is not a license to inciting people to lawless action that results in loss of life. The Southern Poverty Law Centers’ (SPLC) two-year study shows that nearly 100 people in the last five years have been murdered by active users on one notorious hate site, Stormfront. org.20 Christopher Wolf, Chair of the Internet Task Force of the Anti-Defamation League, argues while providing pertinent reports: "The evidence is clear that hate online inspires hate crimes.”21 ISPs and Web-Hosting Services (WHS) should be aware of the connection between speech and action. Responsibility on the Net The Internet plays an instrumental role in spreading hate and in translating speech into action. Confronting the Internet's Dark Side is the first comprehensive book on social responsibility on the Internet. The book aims to strike a balance between the free speech principle and the responsibilities of the individual, corporation, state, and the international community. This book brings a global perspective to the analysis of some of the most troubling uses of the Internet: cyberbullying, cybercrime, terrorism, child pornography, hate and bigotry. It urges net users, ISPs and liberal democracies to weigh freedom and security, finding the golden mean between unlimited license and moral responsibility. This judgment is necessary in order to uphold the very liberal democratic values that gave rise to the Internet and that are threatened by an unbridled use of technology.22 Cyberhate produces a “permanent disfigurement” of group members.23 Responsible organizations should always weigh the consequences of their conduct. They should not say "I did not know." Ignorance cannot absolve them of responsibility. They should know. Society cannot treat lightly calls for the murder of persons because of their race.24 18. Raphael Cohen-Almagor, In Internet's Way, in ETHICS AND EVIL IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE: MEDIA, UNIVERSAL VALUES & GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT 93-115 (Robert S. Fortner and Mark Fackler eds., 2010). 19. WORDS THAT WOUND: CRITICAL RACE THEORY, ASSAULTIVE SPEECH, AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT, at 89-93 (Mari J. Matsuda, Charles R. Lawrence III, Richard Delgado and Kimberly W. Crenshaw eds., 1993); Ishani Maitra and Mary Kate McGowan, On Racist Hate Speech and the Scope of Free Speech Principle, 23 CANADIAN J. OF LAW & JURISPRUDENCE, at 364 (2010); Jeremy Waldron, THE HARM IN HATE SPEECH (2012); Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Is Law Appropriate to Regulate Hateful and Racist Speech: The Israeli Experience, 27 ISRAEL STUDIES REVIEW, 41–64 (2012). 20. Heidi Beirich, Frazier Glenn Miller, Longtime Anti-Semite, Arrested in Kansas Jewish Community Center Murders, Southern Poverty Law Center, April 13, 2014; Caitlin Dickson, Where White Supremacists Breed Online, THE DAILY BEAST (April 17, 2014), available at www.thedailybeast.com/ articles/2014/04/17/where-white-supremacists-breedo n l i n e . h t m l ? u t m _ m e d i u m = e m a i l & u t m _ source=newsletter&utm_campaign=cheatsheet_afternoo n&cid=newsletter%3Bemail%3Bcheatsheet_afternoon&utm_ term=Cheat%20Sheet (last visited Oct. 19, 2015). 21. Christopher Wolf, Needed: Diagnostic Tools to Gauge the Full Effect of Online Anti-Semitism and Hate, OSCE Meeting on the Relationship Between Racist, Xenophobic and Anti-Semitic Propaganda on the Internet and Hate Crimes (Paris, June 16, 2004); Discussion with Wolf, Berkeley (June 5, 2009). 22. Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Confronting the Internet's Dark Side (July 21, 2015), available at www.cambridgeblog. org/2015/07/confronting-the-internets-dark-side/ (last visited Oct. 19, 2015). 23. Jeremy Waldron, Dignity and Defamation: The Visibility of Hate, 123 HARVARD LAW REV., at 1601-1607 (2010). 24. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Dec. 21,1965, available at www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CERD. aspx (last visited Oct. 19, 2015).
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