Executive Summary: Discrimination and Hate in Cyberspace Observed in 2000

Shigeshi Tabata

Network against Discrimination and for Research on Human Rights.

1.       Description of the Situation and Trend of the Incitement of Racism in Cyberspace in 2000

From January to December in 2000, nearly 70 reports were made to the Network against Discrimination and for Research on Human Rights (the “Network”) regarding Websites allegedly contained the incitement of racism; however, most of such reports referred to a Website called the “2 Chan’neru” (which means the “Channel Two”). (This site hosts various BBS as well as listserves.) The number of cases reported to us after taking out duplication is nine. Among the nine reported, we found three cases discriminatory against Buraku-min (or Buraku people), three against Korean residents in Japan, one against people with disabilities, and two targeted different minority groups in Japan such as Buraku-min and Korean residents in Japan.

What is noteworthy in particular is the case of a Website where a directory of Buraku areas was posted. The site was reported to us in June 2000 and the Internet Service Provider (ISP) had been ignored our request to delete the directory from their site. Two months later, however, the ISP deleted the site when we sent them two English-written documents: a resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Commission and a paper on discrimination against Buraku-min in Japan.

This case shows us that ISPs may not respond to a request made by just one grassroots group but may do so when they realize that this problem is so serious that even the United Nations takes it into a serious consideration. As a result, the Network learned a new way to approach to ISPs and got another discriminatory Website named the “Shin Jiyu Kyokai” (or the Association of True Liberties), which we had observed for two years, finally deleted when we sent the same documents to the ISP.

2. Characteristics of Cyber-hate and Challenges of Human Rights Defenders in Japan against Cyber-hate

1) “Popularity” and Problems of Managing a Major Website: Reports on discriminatory content of the “2 Chan’neru” have been increasingly made to us since 1999. This can be partly because more people visit the site after the mass media made a major coverage and treated the “popular and attractive” (what the Japanese call “charismatic”) site as the Child of the Internet Age.

2) Failure of a Human Rights Organization in their Fight against Cyber-Hate: The Buraku Liberation League (BLL) has participated in the “2 Chan’neru” as well as made some aggressive statements on their own Website in order to criticize the “2 Chan’neru.” Their actions, however, has given the public negative impressions on BLL and not solved any problems.

3) Possibility of More Discriminatory Content to be Added to the “2 Chan’neru”: It is most likely that the “2 Chan’neru” will include more aggressive content to incite discrimination.

4) Need for International Human Rights Movement: Websites for Neo-Nazis have used ISPs in the US and other English-speaking countries. Such a trend will grow in the future. To fight against these Websites, human rights defenders have to tackle on this problem internationally.

5) International Cooperation against Cyber-Discrimination: On the point made in 4), the Network now seeks for international actions with the International Network against Discrimination on the Internet (INDI), which was established by human rights defenders in Japan with Ms. Mika Nakahara as President. The Network and INDI will work together on this issue internationally as sister organizations.

6) Need for Broader and More Effective Network among Human Rights Defenders in Japan: In Japan, NRDH will closely cooperate with the New Media Human Rights Institution, which was founded in the fall of 2000, in order to eradicate discrimination on the Internet in Japan.

NOTE:

This document was originally written and summarized in Japanese by Shigeshi Tabata of the Network against Discrimination and for Research on Human Rights. The English translation was prepared by Mika Nakahara of the International Network against Discrimination on the Internet (INDI).