In the spirit of coming together, we’re taking a temporary pass on our usual commentary to focus on an issue that deserves to unite the Internet community. Recently, Hands Off The Internet co-chair Chris Wolf delivered opening remarks at the Third International Symposium on Hate on the Internet in Toronto.

Chris was speaking in his capacity as chair of the International Network Against Cyber-Hate based in The Netherlands. Despite his background as a litigator – or perhaps because of it – he urged the audience to consider that laws addressed at Internet hate are perhaps the LEAST EFFECTIVE way to deal with the problem. They often create a sense of false security promoting inaction and under use of the other tools available to fight online hate.

As he noted, there are exceptions:

“The Web Site of neo-Nazi Bill White posting civil rights lawyer Richard Warman’s address and urging others to take violent action against him is plainly illegal even in the land of First Amendment. It is a travesty that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) could not fashion an immediate remedy to protect Mr. Warman and his family. In at least one U.S. jurisdiction, covering California and much of the West, the highest appellate court – the Ninth Circuit – has ruled that specific threats like that addressed to Mr. Warman justifies an injunction shutting down the Web Site containing the threats, as well as millions of dollars in damages. And that is the right result.”

But that said, the reflexive use of the law to deal with online hate speech threatens to weaken respect for the law if such attempted law enforcement fails or is used against minor violations.

To read a copy of Chris’ speech, click here.