Hate groups, terrorists tap Web 2.0 to spread messages
By Heather Havenstein
,
Computerworld
, 05/28/2008
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While consumers and marketers have found that Web 2.0 technologies are a good way to forge closer ties and to virally spread
content across the Internet, hate groups and terrorists are now increasingly turning to blogs, video sites and social networks
with more sinister goals.
Buoyed mainly by Web 2.0 technologies, online hate activities have jumped 30% in the past year, according to a report released
last week by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization. The report counted some 8,000 Web sites and numerous online posts promoting
hate and terrorist activity.
The spike in Hate 2.0 represents the largest increase in online hate and terrorist activity in more than 10 years, noted Rabbi
Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the center. The center's annual study, called the iReport, provides an overview of digital
hate dating from what it calls the first hate site, which was launched in 1995.
"The spike in the number is primarily because of the increasing availability of the viral, repetitious [applications] and
an increase outside the U.S. by extremist try to get their pitch across," Cooper said. "The terrorist groups and those who
support them are at the cutting edge of technology."
While traditional Web sites will likely continue to be the backbone for hate groups and terrorists to spread their messages,
they are also flocking to Web 2.0 technologies as another way to reach out to their audience, Copper added. For example, he
noted that one video clip derogatory to Jews was traced to 70 different Inter locations in 12 different languages.
Other sites listed in the report include:
Podblanc, a video on demand site that promotes the white supremacist movement. The site broadcasts a virtual newscast based
on a real crime that morphs a photo of the black suspects into apes and charges that blacks have lower intelligence than whites.
SMS2US, created by the Islamic Front of Iraq Resistance to let followers post "inspirational" SMS messages that are overlaid
onto videos of attacks against coalition forces.
88Tube, a YouTube knock-off based in the U.S,. that broadcasts racist music videos, Holocaust denial videos and videos of
Russian Nazis murdering farmers.
The Media Sword Campaign, an effort by Al Qaeda to use discussion forums to get support for jihad and to recruit hackers for
their cause.
Terrorists and hate groups are using YouTube, Facebook, online games and virtual worlds like Second Life to target enemies and gain new recruits, according to the center.
"If one of the goals is to attract young people, you go where the action is," Cooper added. "As we see the virtual life approach
get more sophisticated, we can anticipate and expect there will be at least the intent to create a virtual online presence
maybe not only for propaganda but even for training purposes."
Cooper said that while it is not appropriate for a human rights group to ask that sites like YouTube or Facebook review material
before they post it, he advocated that such companies take a more responsive stance when it comes to hate groups and terrorists.
For more enterprise computing news, visit Computerworld. Story copyright Computerworld, Inc.
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Comments (4)
RE: PodblancBy Anonymous on June 6, 2008, 8:53 pmhttp://podblanc.com/node/1224 About Podblanc Podblanc was founded in April 2007 as a media outlet specifically tailored to White Interests, White Culture, and...
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Mackler CommentsBy Anonymous on July 7, 2008, 4:52 pmHi Extremists, If we were all able to do an ancestery, I think that we would all find that we are all a blend of so many cultures and backgrounds, our parents, our...
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If they can have it so can weBy Michael Hook on July 17, 2008, 2:58 pmIf the Blacks can have Black entertainment television, Miss Black America, a Black phone book, NAACP (for blacks) then why can't a white man have the same privileges...
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You don't think white menBy Laura on April 28, 2009, 11:31 amYou don't think white men have privileges??
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