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Wiesenthal Center Launches New Web-Based Initiative at Capitol Hill Hearing

Admin May 20, 2008


WIESENTHAL CENTER LAUNCHES NEW WEB-BASED INITIATIVE AT CAPITOL HILL HEARING

iREPORT@wiesenthal.com to be clearing house for Hate postings

The Simon Wiesenthal Center launched anew web-based initiative to combat the growing wave of hate and terror sites at a Congressional briefing yesterday convened by US Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD). Rabbi AbrahamCooper, the Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and a pioneer in combating digital hate was the lead witness at the briefing entitled, Hate in the Information Age. He told the hearing that the Centerhas identified some 8,000 problematic sites­ - a 30% spike over last year – and released a 10 point action plan calling for a consortium approach to online hate which wouldinclude the involvement of Internet providers, NGOs and the public at large. “ We are launching ireport@wiesenthal.com and urging anyonewho sees a terror or hate posting to send that link to our team of Internet experts, who will share the data with the Internet provider and when appropriate with law enforcement orauthorities,” said Rabbi Cooper. “We must also help families deal with this growing threat. Fighting hate is everyone’s business,” he added.

Senator Cardin, who co-chairs the U.S. CSCE Helsinki Commission, expressed deep concern over the growing hate crimes on both sides of the Atlantic. He said in part,“Winning also includes finding ways to fight old hatreds expressed in new ways. Cyberspace is increasingly becoming a new platform for the purveyors of hate to swell their ranks andplan their assaults on the innocent.”

The Wiesenthal Center also presented segments from its newDigital Terror and Hate 2.0 CD ROM including a YouTube-type posting of a supposed beheading of two men under a Nazi flag and racist and hate blogsattacking Senators McCain and Obama.

Read related New YorkTimes story...

Read new iReport - Online Terror + Hate: The FirstDecade...

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the UnitedStates. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, and the Council of Europe.

For more information and/or to schedule an interview, or to receive a report, contact the Center’s Public Relations department,310-553-9036.

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