Call for ban on racist websites

THE Government has been urged to outlaw racist websites.

Anti-racism advocates have also called on mobile phone companies to cut off pre-paid phones being used to threaten anti-racist campaigners and spread race hate material.

Philip Watt of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) said the 1989 Incitement to Hatred Act needed to be changed to specifically outlaw inflammatory internet material.

The original act had been drafted at a time when there were no racist websites in Ireland and does not refer to the internet.

Mr Watt said: “It’s an ongoing issue now, and given the Government’s current review of the Act they should make it very clear and specifically outlaw them.

“I also think the Government should be responding to this issue and actively trying to close down sites.”

Although gardaí had some initial success in closing down racist sites, many have been moved to US servers where they are protected by the First Amendment of the American Constitution.

Since last year, the NCCRI has received reports of six inflammatory Irish sites. This is in line with a general European trend of increasing numbers of specifically racist sites.

Some Irish sites are still operating despite complaints. For instance, efforts to close down the openly racist nsrus.com, which is believed to be run by a man in Limerick, and the website of the Irish Fascist Party have so far failed.

The NCCRI said it would also be making a formal complaint to mobile phone firms over pre-paid phones being used to spread race hate material.

Some websites give Irish mobile contact numbers and anti-racism campaigners say they have been receiving death threats and abusive phone calls from pre-paid mobiles.

One of the most common mobile numbers plays what appears to be a Ku Klux Klan recording when it is called.

Among the abusive calls and text messages being received are some claiming to have put campaigners’ addresses and contact details on Combat 18’s target lists.

Combat 18 is a violent Nazi group, based in Britain, which has been responsible for several death threats, serious assaults and arson attacks over the past four years.

“We will be making a formal complaint to the phone companies to ensure that those lines are cut off,” Mr Watt said. The issue had taken on an added urgency given the increase in reports of racist attacks, he said.

A spokesperson for O2 said the company did not monitor what customers used their phones for but had always co-operated with gardaí if an issue was brought to their attention.

“It’s something we continue to look into but we are not the guardians of content and there’s a matter of civil liberties there as well,” said the spokesperson, adding that the company would not cut somebody’s phone connection if they were found to be sending offensive material.