Europe is Considering to Block the Hate Sites

    Based on a treaty that went into effect in January 2003 Europe is attempting to shut out racist and xenophobic "hate" Web sites. However the treaty has some inaccuracies. The treaty says Internet service providers would not be held responsible for simply hosting a Web site or chat room containing hate speech. If the Council of Europe member countries adopt laws that make it a crime to distribute such material to the public through e-mail or Web sites, this may negatively impact privacy and Internet use by Americans(Madigan,2002) .Due to the strenght First Amandement United States is considered to be heaven for hatemogers' sites. According to this treaty American Internet service providers could potentially be forced to shut down their Web sites because people may engage in speech that is offensive in Europe which is unlikly to happen. 

     The second defect of the treaty is that all the countries must agree on what is offensive and what is not.The agreement defines racist and xenophobic material as "written material, images or other representations of ideas or theories advocating, promoting or inciting hatred, discrimination or violence against individuals or groups, based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin, or religion." (Madigan,2002).

   The original Cybercrime treaty (2001) was on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security.And it was also signed by a number of non-COE states: the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico and South Africa. In 2003 the protocol broadens the treaty  to cover offenses relating to distribution of racist or xenophobic propaganda via computer which include hate sites. 

Ramasastry,2003,Can Europe block racist Web sites from its borders?.Website :http://edition.cnn.com/2003/LAW/02/06/findlaw.analysis.ramasastry.cyberlaw/index.html 

Madigan,2002,Internet Hate-Speech Ban Called 'Chilling'.Website:http://www.pcworld.com/article/107499/internet_hatespeech_ban_called_chilling.html