Hate For Sale

On Friday, on Global Grind, I read an article about the President of Iran's denial of the Holocaust. This isn't the first time that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denied the Holocaust and I am sure it won't be the last. However, more disheartening to me were the comments that some of the Global Grind readers left, which included some deep hatred towards Muslims and Jews. We know that the President of Iran will continue with his hatred, but to hear it from our own community really struck a nerve.

After reading the article, I thought a lot about a meeting I had a few weeks ago with Brian Cuban, who happens to be the brother and lawyer of Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks). Brian came to my office to share with me a deep concern he has with the growing movement of hate groups that are popping up on online social networks.

When he began to investigate how groups who seemed to have no other purpose than to spew hatred were allowed to exist on Facebook and Myspace and post videos on YouTube, with emphasis on Facebook in particular, it caused him concern, as it should all of us.

The executives of Facebook companies told him that as long as these groups weren't targeting a group of people or engaging in "direct hatred" they were free to exist. This is despite the fact that the advertised rules of Facebook prohibit the posting of any "hateful content without limitation."

So, for instance, on Facebook you can apparently create a group called "Death To Islam" or "F*ck Islam," but not "F*ck Muslims." Or you can say "F*ck Judaism," but you can't say "F*ck Jews." Call me crazy but all of the above sound hateful to me. I fail to see the distinctions, but Facebook companies seem to think there is one. They have created their own private rules that somehow justify the existence of these groups on their sites.

I will always support "freedom of speech," as long as it is not causing harm to others. For something to be harmful however does not always have to involve a beating with a baseball bat. The most insidious, widespread types of hatred are often much more subtle but no less dangerous. As such, I think it is important to make sure that we do not allow hatred and violence to openly be spewed without any sort of consequences. As business leaders, we still have to be able to sleep at night, regardless of how much money we might be making.

Some of the people who own and operate these companies are dear friends, so I ask them humbly to re-think their policies. I urge the executives of social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Myspace to consider that their platforms are powerful educators and motivators of our young people. As such, there is a social responsibility to not engage in semantic distinctions of hatred on their sites that have no practical application in the real world. These distinctions might seem minor in practice, but the effect they can have in the spreading of societal intolerance of others based on different religious beliefs is real.

I am concerned that the words of Ahmadinejad will continue to influence young people in the Middle East and around the world. But I fear that online hate groups will have much greater influence than one isolated leader. If we do not let these social networks know that these groups are not welcome within our communities, then we are just as guilty. When the KKK marches today, it takes brave men and women to stand up to them and tell them to get out of their communities. We can do the same online.

It is a very important week for Muslims and Jews around the world. The Muslims have just ended the holy month of Ramadan. And the Jews have just celebrated their New Year and in a few days will observe their holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur. It is a perfect time to come together and raise our voices of dissent against the existence of online hate groups. If we succeed, it will not only create a step forward towards a greater collective consciousness, but just as important, it will allow us all to sleep a little better at night.

 

 

Follow Russell Simmons on Twitter: www.twitter.com/unclerush

Comments

[DeeDubya]

Do not ban free speech. Keep these losers visible.

Should they make a call to action, then shut them down and have them arrested.

[jzdog]

I couldn't disagree with this more. Banning such speech will only drive it into the shadows and out of the light of day where it can be exposed and dealt with. Further, what happens when a liberal posts hate about Cheney? Do they get banned? When Simmons says he supports free speech unless it hurts someone that is a rather shallow endorsement of free speech, since most political speech offends someone.

[Barticus]

Don't give the hate groups ammunition. By forcing them underground, by making them post their organizing messages in code, you give them justification, you prove to them that they are victims. Do not help them. Call them what they are then let them hate, but do not justify their hate.

[COPerez]

I agree, Russell, that they should reconsider. Whatever their decision, just as only the government can censor, these private companies should be able to find and walk that fine line...

However, there really IS a distinction between aiming something at Islam vs Muslims or between disparaging Judaism vs Jews. I am all for disparaging religion; there hasn't been a more harmful meme in the mind of men since the invention of war. However, I don't agree with being bigoted against adherents of those religions just because the believe.

[TheJerseyGuy]

I'm with you all the way on this except for "freedom of speech" the concept doesn't even come into play here. The constitution bans the government from limiting speech, it does not require private enterprise (facebook, for example) to do the same. It is just a diversion used by facebook execs. Don't let them get away with it.

JG.

[Frank Jenkins]

I agree with there. The social sites really need to do a better job at house cleaning. I'm guessing they fear freedom of speech lawsuits because they let such people of ill repute spew such garbage. The same holds true for my local newspapers here in Chicago. The hatred being spewed in the comments section of the papers, because a Muslim owner of a 7 11 refused to sell products with pork. It was down-right disgusting.