October, 25 2018, 12:00am EDT
Civil-Rights, Anti-Hate and Open-Internet Groups Release 'Change the Terms' to Help Internet Companies Combat Hateful Activity Online
On Thursday, the Center for American Progress, Color Of Change, Free Press, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with a coalition of more than 40 groups, announced the release of Change the Terms, a set of
WASHINGTON
On Thursday, the Center for American Progress, Color Of Change, Free Press, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with a coalition of more than 40 groups, announced the release of Change the Terms, a set of recommended policies for internet companies to adopt and implement to disrupt hateful activities on their platforms.
The release of these policies coincides with the launch of changetheterms.org, a site where people can learn more about the issue and the coalition, and take action by urging prominent internet companies to adopt the policies as part of their terms of service.
While a free and open internet creates immense social value, it can also be used to engage in hateful activities on a large scale. White-supremacist groups and other organizations inciting hate are using online platforms to organize, fund, recruit supporters for, and normalize racism, sexism, religious bigotry, homophobia, transphobia and anti-immigrant animus. This chills the online speech of the targeted groups, curbs democratic participation and threatens people's safety and freedom in real life.
While some companies are taking steps in the right direction to reduce hateful activities online, anti-hate provisions in most companies' terms of service alone are not sufficient. To ensure that companies are doing enough to combat hateful conduct on their platforms, organizations in this campaign will track the progress of major tech companies -- especially social-media platforms -- in adopting and implementing these model corporate policies. The coalition will also give report cards to these same companies on both their policies and their execution of those policies in 2019.
The accompanying report "Curbing Hate Online: What Companies Should Do Now" shares what the coalition learned from meeting with experts on terrorism, human rights and technology around the world, and includes our recommended policies to help internet companies reduce hateful activities on their platforms. These policies are based on the online tools and information that are available today. Policies and approaches for addressing hateful activities will need to evolve as technologies as well as uses change and as a result of lessons learned by both internet companies and researchers who evaluate data on hateful activities online.
"Coordinated online attacks by White supremacists have sparked violence in the offline world," said Jessica Gonzalez, deputy director and senior counsel at Free Press. "They also chill the online speech of those of us who are members of targeted groups, frustrating democratic participation in the digital marketplace of ideas and -- even more importantly -- threatening our safety and freedom in real life. Internet companies can no longer ignore how the hate speech of the few silences the voices and threatens the lives of the marginalized many."
"Russian attempts to influence U.S. voters in the 2016 election entailed spreading hateful racist lies online and efforts to increase divisions based on race, ethnicity, and religion on major online platforms. And this past Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice brought its first criminal case over alleged Russian interference in the 2018 midterm elections," said Henry Fernandez, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. "That's why it is important that today, we are releasing these model corporate policies, because elections are both central to our democracy but also ground zero for attacks on democracy by those engaging in hateful activities online. We hope our model corporate policies provide guidance on this front for tech companies in future elections."
"Social-media platforms have a tremendous impact because of their ability to amplify extreme ideas from the fringes," said Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. "The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented how hateful rhetoric online can turn into violence in real life, including the tragic events that we saw unfold in Charlottesville, Virginia, last year. Internet companies must to do more to ensure that they are doing their part to combat extremism and hate and take the threat of hate and extremism on their platforms more seriously."
"When technology companies allow White supremacists and White nationalists to use their platforms to organize, fundraise, and terrorize Black communities, they threaten the human rights of Black people and undermine democracy," said Brandi Collins, senior campaign director at Color Of Change. "Color Of Change has destabilized hate groups by holding tech companies accountable for their complicity in the proliferation of White supremacy. It is not enough for companies to apologize after incidents like last year's Charlottesville rally and last week's Proud Boys attacks. They must quickly, assertively, and proactively remove the forces who threaten our democracy by adopting and implementing these policies."
Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.
(202) 265-1490LATEST NEWS
Rights Groups List 50+ Calls for Gaza Genocide on Israel's Channel 14
"Incitement to war crimes is part of the Channel 14 poison machine, and its aim is to create a forever war here," said one campaigner.
Sep 25, 2024
Since the October 7 attack, Israel's right-wing Channel 14 has broadcast over 50 statements by presenters, panelists, and guests advocating or defending genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and more than 150 calls for war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to a report published Tuesday by an Israeli newspaper.
Haaretzreported that the Israeli human rights groups—Zulat for Equality and Human Rights, Hatzlacha: Movement for the Promotion of a Fair Society, and the Democratic Bloc—have compiled a list of genocidal statements and incitements to war crimes made by individuals appearing on Channel 14 since October 7.
The groups have written to Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara requesting a criminal investigation into the station for "systematic and widespread incitement." The organizations want Channel 14 sanctioned and fined.
"On October 7, the terrorist organization Hamas committed war crimes and crimes against humanity," attorneys Michael Sfard, Alon Sapir, and Einat Gaier—who are representing the groups—told Haaretz. This caused "massive grief, deep sorrow, and burning and understandable fury."
"Israeli society is deeply traumatized, and this trauma will take years to heal," the lawyers continued. "This is exactly the type of ground upon which moral monstrosities are liable to flourish, and are flourishing."
The Haaretz article lists each incident in which genocidal statements have aired on Channel 14, with one program, "The Patriots," appearing repeatedly on the list.
On October 12, former Israeli lawmaker Moshe Feiglin—who has quoted Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, while arguing for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza—said on "The Patriots" that "if the goal of this operation isn't destruction, occupation, expulsion, and settlement, then we've done nothing."
Two days later on the program, presenter Nave Dromi said that "there are no innocents" in Gaza.
"In 1948, they brought the Nakba on themselves," she added, referring to the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine by Jewish militias during the foundation of modern Israel. "Now they'll have a second Nakba, but for real, to finish the job."
The following day, October 15, Channel 14 aired a prerecorded message from Israeli singer Eyal Golan, who asserted that "Gaza should be totally wiped out, not one person should be left there."
Golan's message was cited in the South Africa-led genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Israeli State Attorney Amit Aisman is also considering a criminal investigation of Golan's remarks.
The human rights groups and Haaretz documented many other instances of on-air calls for indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, shooting civilians, and to "just exterminate" Palestinians.
Channel 14 personalities were aware of the legal implications of these statements. Following the ICJ's January order for Israel to avoid genocidal acts—which the country's far-right government has been accused of ignoring—Israeli journalist Shimon Riklin said on air that a law professor "warned me before the broadcast that if I say these things on the show I could be sued in The Hague."
"But I want you all to know that since October 7, one of the things that helps me to sleep is when I see all kinds of buildings flying through the air in Gaza, I enjoy it," he said. "Let's have more! Destroy as much as possible, so they won't have anywhere to go back to. Hang on a second, The Hague is calling... Hello?"
That same day another Israeli journalist, Itamar Fleischmann, argued on air that "the more humane solution is to starve" Palestinians in Gaza.
"And the choice is up to the civilians there," he added. "You want to keep starving? Keep supporting Hamas... That's why in my view, the Israeli interest is starvation in Gaza and a humanitarian disaster in Gaza."
At least dozens of Gazans, mostly children, have starved to death amid Israel's siege of the embattled enclave, where more than 147,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured by Israel's nearly yearlong onslaught.
"Incitement to war crimes is part of the Channel 14 poison machine, and its aim is to create a forever war here," Zehava Galon, a former left-wing Israeli lawmaker and president of Zulat for Equality and Human Rights, told Haaretz.
In a social media post, Zulat for Equality and Human Rights said Tuesday that "we specifically present here evidence of a serious crime being committed on Channel 14 and it needs to be stopped immediately."
Channel 14 "turned these statements into a systematic agenda," the group added. "An urgent investigation is required so that this incitement cannot be legitimate and allowed in Israel. It's time for the instigators to pay the price."
Keep ReadingShow Less
With All Eyes on Gaza, Israel Bulldozed 'Mile After Mile' of West Bank
"We watched their bulldozers tear up streets, demolish businesses, pharmacies, schools," said one local leader. "They even bulldozed the town soccer field, and a tree in the middle of a road."
Sep 25, 2024
As the world watched Israel's assaults on Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, The New York Times on Wednesday also directed attention to the West Bank, detailing how "Israeli military bulldozers tore up mile after mile" of Jenin and Tulkarm in recent weeks.
While "nearly nightly raids" by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) "have become the norm" in the West Bank since the Hamas-led October 7 attack, the military last month "launched one of its most extensive and deadliest raids" in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory in years, the newspaper reported, citing videos and interviews with residents.
"We watched their bulldozers tear up streets, demolish businesses, pharmacies, schools. They even bulldozed the town soccer field, and a tree in the middle of a road," said Kamal Abu al-Rub, governor of Jenin. "What was the point of all of this?"
In addition to ground operations in the West Bank, the IDF has increased airstrikes that critics say run afoul of international law. The military defended the strikes and told the Times that in recent raids, troops found weapon stockpiles and killed or arrested dozens of militants—but also caused some "unavoidable harm to certain civilian structures."
In response to videos included in the reporting, freelance journalist Pete Tucker accused Israeli soldiers of "methodically laying waste to" the West Bank.
Malini Ranganathan, an associate professor at American University's School of International Service, said on social media that "Israel's criminality knows no limits. IDF bulldozers have been obliterating the West Bank, even tearing up roundabouts."
Israeli forces have damaged homes, shops, and roads along with internet, electricity, phone, water, and sewage lines in the West Bank. Emergency crews have been unable to respond to hundreds of calls per day, because they can't reach people in need.
"They are imposing conditions, materially and psychologically, that make people feel: Gaza is coming to you," Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin told the Times. "There is a feeling among Palestinians across the West Bank that what is coming is very bad—that it will be a plan to kill and expel us."
Since the October 7 attack on Israel that killed more than 1,100 people, Israeli forces have slaughtered at least 41,455 Palestinians in Gaza and 716 in the West Bank. Across the Palestinian territories, over 100,000 others have been injured over the past year. The bloodshed led to an ongoing genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The ICJ in July issued a nonbinding advisory opinion that Israel's decadeslong occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and must end "as rapidly as possible." Instead, Israel has ramped up attacks on not only the Palestinian territories, but also Lebanon, home to the political and paramilitary group Hezbollah.
This week's bombing campaign in Lebanon—which has killed at least 569 people—sparked fresh calls for the Biden administration to finally cut off weapons to Israel, as did the new reporting from the Times, which has been accused of pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the assault on Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli destruction in the West Bank continues. The International Middle East Media Centerreported that "on Wednesday, Israeli soldiers invaded the town of Beit Ula, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank's southern part, [and] bulldozed over 20 dunams of land, uprooting more than 600 fruit-bearing trees, and demolishing several agricultural structures and wells."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Progressive US Lawmakers Call for Arms Embargo to Halt Israeli Escalation in Lebanon
"We cannot continue to stand idly by while innocent civilians are being bombarded with our tax dollars," said U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Sep 25, 2024
Progressive lawmakers in the U.S. House expressed alarm Wednesday over Israel's ongoing bombardment of Lebanon and called on the Biden administration to take immediate steps to stop the deadly violence, including halting the flow of American weapons to the Israeli military.
"Our district is home to one of the largest, most vibrant Lebanese communities in the nation," said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), the lone Palestinian American in the U.S. Congress. "While our families mourn the ongoing genocide in Gaza, they are now witnessing the Israeli government's indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon."
"The Biden-Harris administration continues to allow Netanyahu and the Israeli government to operate with impunity as they carry out war crimes," Tlaib added. "Deploying more U.S. troops and sending more U.S. bombs will only lead to more suffering and carnage. The Biden-Harris administration is capable of stopping the bloodshed. President [Joe] Biden must implement an immediate arms embargo to end the slaughter and deescalate the risk of a wider regional war."
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) implored the Biden administration—which has supplied Israel with more than 50,000 tons of military equipment in less than a year—to "use every single tool to deescalate tensions," including cutting off military aid to "stop the violence both in Lebanon and Gaza."
"We cannot continue to stand idly by while innocent civilians are being bombarded with our tax dollars," said Omar.
"We must use our leverage with regional actors to deescalate regional tensions and prevent further violence from erupting."
Separately, CPC chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.)—who heads the CPC's Peace and Security Task Force—said in a statement Wednesday that they are "deeply concerned by the disturbing number of civilian deaths in the latest bombings in Lebanon as well as new missile fire preventing thousands from returning to their homes in northern Israel."
"We have long warned of the dangers of escalating violence in the region, which has killed U.S. service members and harmed communities across the Middle East," said Jayapal and Lee. "The American people have made clear they do not want another war in the Middle East and we must use our leverage with regional actors to deescalate regional tensions and prevent further violence from erupting."
"As members of Congress," they added, "we also reaffirm our solemn responsibility to ensure that any use of U.S. force be brought first for a vote before Congress, consistent with the Constitution."
The statements from the progressive U.S. lawmakers came as Israel carried out another barrage of airstrikes in Lebanon and signaled a possible ground invasion.
"You hear the jets overhead; we have been striking all day," General Herzi Halevi told Israeli troops Wednesday on the border with Lebanon. "This is both to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah."
Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly earlier this week, Biden said that "full-scale war is not in anyone's interest" and called for a "diplomatic solution."
But Biden's remarks were not well-received in Lebanon. Abdallah Bou Habib, the country's foreign minister, said the president's address in New York was neither "strong" nor "promising," adding that only decisive action from the U.S. "can really make a difference in the Middle East and with regard to Lebanon."
The U.S. is Israel's top ally and arms supplier. While it's unclear whether American-made weaponry has been used during Israel's deadly bombing campaigns in Lebanon this week, Stephen Semler of the Security Policy Reform Institute toldThe Intercept that it would "almost be more shocking to see a non-U.S.-supplied weapon being used in southern Lebanon," given how heavily Israel relies on U.S. arms.
"As more forensic evidence is recovered in Lebanon," said Semler, "we shouldn't be surprised to see U.S. fingerprints all over it."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular