Hate and the WWW - What? Who? Why?

First I'll answer the questions for the assignment, then I'll add some more bla-bla.

Assignment

Why is this important in relation to Cybercultural studies?

How do the issues of this film fit into Cybercultural Studies; as culture and culture artifact?

The issue of "cyberhate" is an important one for cybercultural studies since it is a tangible manifestation of socio-cultural tensions. It boldly raises questions about the right to free speech vs. the need to protect the wider, more fundamental rights of every individual of the community to dignity and freedom.

As Me. Floyd Abrams said in the program we saw in class, Western societies have decided that there is a higher price to pay for governmental censorship than there is for hate propaganda to be allowed. For example, Canadians would be less free if the government was censoring the Internet, for example, than if a few hate groups were to keep propagating their hateful point of views.
This way of seeing things – which is implicit in the Canadian Charter of Rights – still allows for the development and use of censorship products, to be used at the individual level – by parents, for example –, and the institutional level – by libraries, schools, etc.

Thus, through the legalization of the publication of hateful material online and of the use of censoring material, cybercultural analysts can see in "real time" social values at play, fighting for legitimacy and audience on the one side, for integrity, "political correctness" and morality on the other. Indeed, as discussed by Don Black in the movie, choices over what is proper or not for viewing are basically subjective: if some would lump together animal cruelty and racist propaganda as elements to be banned, some like Black would not. He, personally, wants to be informed on White supremacist movements, but NOT on animal cruelty "how-to's".

In summary, the cyberhate on the net is a social artifact that has a lot to tell on the power structures of our societies. Not surprisingly (read on for more!), the oppressed in "real life" are the ones who are being oppressed in "virtual life".

There is more to it

I have to mention some of the assumptions underlying the no-censorship argument, which are debatable.

First, it assumes that the individual net user is able to discriminate between different sources of information, and judge their legitimacy, content, and morality in the light of their ethical standards, and choose to rely on the information that they believe to suit their needs, beliefs.

Second, it assumes that in the end, everybody is able to publish information that supports their point of view, to justify it with sound evidence, such that "truth" will ultimately triumph in different social debates.

Those two assumptions are part of our democratic ideal; if they are totally true is something else. History seems to tell us otherwise (looking at the different genocides of the 20th century is quite telling…). But since democracy is the least terrible of all political systems…
;)

The second assumption is the one that troubles me the most. I have already spoken about it in a previous post… and in class… and in my dreams… Ahah! But really: it is false to think/say that everybody is able to voice their opinions online. We should be aware of that, just from the digital divide data… Poor, non-White, old, rural women are under-represented – if they are at all, since so many of them are also illiterate –; rich, White, young, educated urban men are over-represented. Until the oppressed get access to the web in just proportion to their number, we are very much more likely to fall upon hateful material than we are to stumble, by chance, on "alternative" material.

I'll finish this post with two last details: first, I posted a link towards RaceSciNet, an alternative source for information on the issue of race and the "scientificity" of racial differences. Second, a statistic: women own one percent of the wealth of the planet. So for those among you who still believe in the equality of the sexes…
Bonjour la discrimination!