The Hatemongers' New Tool: The Internet:

Christopher Wolf: Internet Hate Is What Kept James Von Brunn's Hateful Lunacy At The Boiling Point

(CBS)  Christopher Wolf, an attorney in Washington D.C., is Chair of the Anti-Defamation League’s Internet Task Force and Immediate Past Chair of the International Network Against Cyber-Hate.

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Before the Internet, James Von Brunn, the self-proclaimed white supremacist, anti-Semite and Holocaust denier who stands accused of murder at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, was relegated to using the mail to communicate his rage with like-minded haters. The only place for him to have his benighted views applauded was in sporadic clandestine meetings.

The Internet changed all that. Like his fellow bigots, Von Brunn found the Internet a boon to his warped causes. His maintained a hate Web site, "Holy Western Empire," where he touted and provided excerpts from his book that denied the Holocaust and praised Hitler. And online, in chat rooms, on bulletin boards and through links to other haters’ Web sites, Von Brunn had a virtual fan club, who cheered him on and legitimized his vicious thinking.

We will never know whether Von Brunn’s rage would have burned out but for the Internet, but we do know that he found validation for the rage he harbored on the Internet.

At the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, where Von Brunn unleashed his hateful rage by killing Security Guard Stephen Tyrone Johns, there recently was an exhibit on the power of Nazi propaganda. The exhibit showed how the Nazi propaganda machine skillfully spread lies about Jews and perpetuated centuries-old anti-Semitic stereotypes, setting the stage for the Holocaust.

Today, the Internet Von Brunn used is a powerful and virulent platform for anti-Semitism - hate toward Jews that has a direct link to the deterioration of civil society, violence, terrorism, and - as we now know - murder. Hitler and the Nazis could never have dreamed of such an engine of hate.

The Internet as the new propaganda machine for anti-Semites is not under the central control of a political party or group. It gains its power by being viral in nature. Everyone can be a publisher, even the most vicious anti-Semite. Hate begets hate, and its common appearance makes it seem acceptable and normal. Internet hate is what kept Von Brunn’s hateful lunacy at the boiling point.

And, perniciously, Internet hate speech serves to mislead and even recruit young people to become the next generation of anti-Semites and, perhaps, murders.

Since its advent, we have been concerned about the incredible power and reach that the Internet has given anti-Semites and bigots. What has developed in the past few years, however, is much more dangerous. We are now in the world of what is called "Web 2.0,"transforming the way the Internet is being used. Any hater and propagandist can reach a mass audience, even an audience that didn’t think itself receptive to such hateful ideas. With the users of Web 2.0 comprised largely of younger people, the impact of the information posted there may persist for generations to come.

Blogging and social media sites are changing the way people communicate their reactions to events in the news and interact with each other. Those who harbor anti-Semitic beliefs are comfortable expressing themselves in cyberspace, where they can provoke a reaction from others or find like-minded individuals to affirm their beliefs.

In the aftermath of the Madoff revelations, the comments section following ordinary news stories contained rages against Jewish people for controlling (and ruining) the world’s finances. And YouTube frequently is the home of hate-filled replays of Nazi propaganda films.

The perniciousness of anti-Semitism on today’s Internet is that the more one sees it, the more one is likely to consider it normal, and acceptable. Good people are numbed by the proliferation, and daunted by the task of responding. Others consider it a reflection of what is acceptable in society. And then there are those on the fringe, like Von Brunn, who use such content as justification for murder.

The First Amendment protects essentially all hate speech, except that consisting of direct threats against specific people. But that does not mean we should throw up our hands and simply accept hate on the Internet as something that will always infect the Internet. There is a role for Internet users, for Internet companies and for educators. We should speak up when we see hate sites, explain to our kids what they are seeing, and counter the vicious lies.

Those offering Internet services with terms of use that prohibit hate speech should enforce those terms and remove offending content. And it is time for Internet education as a requirement in all schools, to teach kids how to filter what they are seeing and to reject hate online. (The epidemic of cyberbullying alone should inspire such attention to kids using the Internet.)

A fitting memorial to museum guard Stephen Johns would be for society finally to address hate on the Internet in a meaningful way, to prevent the next Internet-inspired murder.

[mnbrant]

Recently the ACLU set up a sting operation in which they paid a bum to parade around naked and drunk in an upscale San Francisco neighborhood and harass people until the police(some of the few real honest cops) came to arrest the man, then the lawyers poped out and sued the cops, just for doing their jobs.

These are the people that the librals glorify

This if funny whether it is true or not. I found it under athiests who kill. I posted twice since the first one did not pop up. If I have two soory!

[hungry1968-15]

by leftsocialist June 18, 2009 11:01 AM PDT
The religion of no-religion aka atheistic communism is the true killer with Islamofacism being the runner-up. The so-called Crusades were a defensive posture against the invading Islamofacist barbarian hordes. The Spanish Inquisition were non-Christians killing Christian Protestants.





This is hilarious!!!

Please list for us ALL of the atrocities committed in the name of atheism.

Please start with the roaming bands of "atheists" in the middle ages that paraded around killing people in the name of their "non-god"!!!!!


ROFLMAO!!!!!

[mnbrant]

yawn this is boring. yawn. I am a member of 2 churches and as am completely sure the guy I see on weds hasn't committed any atrocity's. He does have a bouffant hairdo which makes him a suspect. As far as the Roman Catholics go, I just go to make my wife happy. I am quite sure they have done atrocity's but they have been around for 1700 years. Since I have never gone to confession and have no plans to, I am quite sure if I have a Catholic guy say the words after I die I will go straight to hell.

[hungry1968-15]

by leftsocialist June 18, 2009 10:55 AM PDT
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment (of any one denomination over another) of (the Judeo- Christian) religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." (Whatever is in parenthesis was well known & more than implied at the founding of the USA.)

Judeo-Christianity is the only lawful religion established for the USA as all others are false to include those of the religion of no-religion aka atheists/agnostics.

Go back & read the history your public school never taught you.







You have to "add words" to the first amendment to make a point, and then you tell ME to go read a history book, because I missed the "implications" of what the founding fathers meant?

Judeo - chrisitianity is one of DOZENS of religions recognized by the US government, and YOUR RELIGION has far more in common with Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc, etc, etc, than it does with the United States or our nation's founding, and NO RELIGION was ever used as a foundation for the beginning of this nation.


Seriously man, you might want to look at WHY the pilgrims came here. It was to ESCAPE the religious persecution of the christian-based tenets of the Church of England. If they came here to ESCAPE that religious fueled persecution, would it make sense that they would use the EXACT SAME RELIGION to found this nation, and subject themselves to the same persecution all over again?

[hungry1968-15]

by leftsocialist June 18, 2009 10:43 AM PDT

It wasn't the Israelis that attacked us on 9-11 it was the Islamofacist Saudis' mafia regime.







More people died at the hands of christians, acting under the words or orders of their god, than ALL OTHER RELIGIONS combined.

[hungry1968-15]

by leftsocialist June 18, 2009 10:43 AM PDT
The First Amendment does not contradict the First Commandment.






Really?


"I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me."


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."







Either you can worship who you want, when you want to, or you live under the "word of god" and will worship NO ONE but him.

Sounds contradictory to me.

[hungry1968-15]

by leftsocialist June 18, 2009 10:06 AM PDT

Ever notice how atheists/agnostics only HATEfully curse the name of Jesus Christ but never the false god Allah? I am sure there will be many HATERS HATING the truth & facts presented.






That's because the radical Islamic extremists aren't trying to force us to live under the tenets of their religion, the way that the chrisitians in America are.

[hungry1968-15]

by leftsocialist June 18, 2009 10:06 AM PDT
In the Qur'an Surah 9:5 "When the sacred months are over slay the IDOLATERS (AKA NON-MUSLIM INFIDELS) wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them. If they repent and take to prayer and render the alms levy, allow them to go their way. Allah is forgiving and merciful." This is the so called scriptural validation all Islamofacists use to persecute & kill Jews & Christians which is not the case in America whereas any attempt to spread the false religion of ISLAM does not result in the killing of Muslims.






What is the difference in THAT passage from the Koran, and this one from the bible:

"They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman." (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)




Or this one:

"Whoever sacrifices to any god, except the Lord alone, shall be doomed." (Exodus 22:19 NAB)





Or better yet, how about this all-time classic:

"Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt." (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT)





You can't decry ONE religion, unless you're willing to decry them all, because they are ALL equally detestable.

[hungry1968-15]

by leftsocialist June 18, 2009 9:41 AM PDT






If you believe that this country was founded on "Judeo - Christian principles", then perhaps you could explain to us why the First Amendment directly contradicts the first commandment?

[debianjen]

Instead of focusing on clear cases of discrimination against Jews and helping to fund Aliyah, the ADL instead wants to infuse liberal notions of coexistence upon others which is then used by haters of Israel to *weaken* our own ability to maintain and preserve a true Jewish homeland. How can we preserve Jewish self-determination and identity when liberal U.S. based Jewish groups keep preaching tolerance??? Avigdor Lieberman has it right. Liberal jews who are too blind (or dumb) to see the reality of the situation will be responsible when Israel ceases to exist.

[mnbrant]

I just Wikipedia'd Lieberman and really dont think he is the guy to negotiate with the Palestinians. I agree Isreal is gonna have a tough time in the next twenty years because it is small and the oil producing countries will probably get good. Might be the window of opportunity is smaller than you think even without nukes. I mean it would be hard to lay a nuke on a postage stamp of a country like Isreal.

[hungry1968-15]

What do they mean "new tool"?

The conservatives have been posting here for years......

[whitemale08]

This story is a 'pretext' to shut down people like me from getting the truth out about the illegal Federal Reserve System, the British Empire of Worthless Derivatives and Credit-Default Swaps.

It's just a way to keep the parasites and the fleas of the financial system, feeding off our backs.

It's disgusting.

Already, I'm screened from posting comments on certain articles on CBS News website.

[major-domo]

There's a whole lot of truth here, but it's more than just hate. The internet is a vehicle for the dissemination of deception and off-colored lies to beguile people. Instead of accepting facts as they are, a skilled tactician can manipulate facts to sound either agreeable or disagreeable. It all depends on the intent of the deception. So if, for instance, you want to make sure national health care doesn't happen, you paint a false picture that a supposedly reasonable person would seriously object to. And on the other hand, if you want it to pass, then you paint a picture of a rosey scenario were everyone lives healthy and happily ever after. Either way, it's a deception aimed at the reader while the real issues of whether or not national health care a viable solution is drowned in a sea of churning confusing that abounds on the internet. The sad fact of this is the intent of the internet was to share ideas and open thoughts of how to best achieve results and goals. It was never meant to be sole source reference catalog as it has turned out to be. And there's no way to tame it. You just have to take what you read off it with a grain of salt and look elsewhere for your facts.

[stupidiam]

free speach, is not hate. we have the right to disagree. if i have an opinion thats my opinion. as long as there are no threats of any kind relating to harming someone physicly. you people are trying to regulate the internet, it will take care of itself. with no BIG GOVS. help thankyou

[stupidiam]

if all gay men were on an island, and gay woman were on one, with no outside interferance. you could never pro-create. you would die off right? you can not create, it is a death culture. you would disappeare after a generation, science would prove that. and i did not mention GOD. no contact sperm donors, no contact with anything but woman with woman and men with men. no creating humans. thats why its not natural. dummy

[armyoftwelve]

I guess all those gay animals will go to Hell.
by micheleisfree June 17, 2009 8:18 AM PDT

What a completely irrelevant comment, given the nature of this story.
In case you didn't hear...animals don't go to hell cause they don't have free will like you and me.
A lesson from a farmer...if you keep a bull around to stud and the bull just wants to hump other bulls...you get rid of the bull : (

[armyoftwelve]

The intermet is hardly a "new" tools for haters. The headline to this article would have made more sense in 1998.
You know what's worse than the net's role in spreading hate?? The net's role in EXPLOITING women and children!

[John_Merritt]

I love a good debate, but there is just too much slinging of stuff that does not belong. These personal attacks against each other many times does not fit into the topic of discussion. Some of these guys spend endless hours sniping at each other. I wish they would just give each other their phone numbers or emails and spare the rest of us from their diatribes.

[thenietzschean]

The net, the message will still be there, the national socialists will always have their say, their point of view. nationalism and hate go hand and hand, there will always be the message. the world has gotten smaller since WWII. nationalism's on the rise.. progressiveness? why not embrace the new age... We save the whiles and kill our Children... yet that's woman's rights? the jews have Zionism buts that's okay for them their god chosen people... why not add one more thing to the norm? National socialism..

[skyk-2009]

by Willynailer June 17, 2009 12:56 PM PDT
In the article you quoted it gives two examples that are caused by genetic defects. So explain how it is not an abomination and freak of nature.

I think the point you poor hate filled creature is that Mature makes mistakes. Now I remember as a young man, when those chemicals in my brain started to flow, there was NOTHING of God's Green Earth that was going to keep ME from the Female. When I sit here and listen to some small minded jerk say that Homosexuals "Learn" to be like that, I think back to those days and understand that what they are selling is CONTROL, not Morals. An INTELLIGENT human would understand that what makes some NOT feel as I did was because Nature did NOT give them that reaction... Hate is a cruel thing but much more for those who HATE.

[mnbrant]

Lots of people are gay simply to be part of the group. Its not hate speech to point this out.

[babooph]

Along with a lot of foolish nonsense,I get far more honesty from the "COMMENTS" from the public than I do the media propaganda-at least the NAZI bunch were honest enough to call it the propaganda dept.- not the news agency.