hate speech

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION WINS LAWSUIT AGAINST DAILY STORMER AND WHITE SUPREMACISTS OVER ONLINE THREATS, HARASSMENT

East County News Service

Photo: Creative Commons by S.A.

In landmark decision, court rules that hateful online trolling can constitute interference with the equal enjoyment of public accommodations

August 9, 2019 (Washington D.C.) -- Today the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that white supremacists who used social media to threaten and harass the first African American female student body president of American University were liable for over $700,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.

“This ruling is historic in that it marks the first time that a court has deemed racist online trolling activity that can interfere with one’s equal access to a public accommodation. The Court’s ruling recognizes the real-world damage done when bigots take to the internet to target and threaten African Americans and other people of color,” said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “This ruling should send a strong message to other white supremacists that they can and will be held accountable for hateful activity that constitutes unlawful discrimination, no matter whether it occurs online or in the real world.”   


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TWITTER SUSPENDS RACISTS’ ACCOUNTS

 

East County News Service

November 16, 2016 (San Diego) — Twitter is taking aim at racism.  In dual actions, the company announced it will suspend accounts of prominent ‘alt-right’ leaders who are promoting white supremacy and bigotry.  Twitter also released new anti-harassment tools that allow users to block offensive tweets containing key words.


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TECH COMPANIES TO CRACK DOWN ON HATE SPEECH

 

By Miriam Raftery

May 31, 2016 (San Diego) – A lawsuit filed against Twitter, Facebook and Google by a Jewish youth group in France in April has resulted in major social media and Internet companies pledging to remove hate speech in 24 hours or less after a complaint is filed.  The firms named in the suit, along with Microsoft, issued the promise in a joint statement with the European Commission today, Bloomberg News reports.


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EDITORIAL: BALANCING HATE WITH HEALING

WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH PICKETING LOCAL SCHOOLS

By J. Richards

 

Editor's note:  Westboro Baptist Church, headed by Fred Phelps, has gained notoriety for protesting at funerals of gay individuals. In San Diego, however, on October 16 the group (which calls Jews "Christ killers") plans to target Jewish schools and organizations.  

 

October 15, 2009 (San Diego)--The Westboro Baptist Church will be in San Diego County to stage a series of pickets this Friday through Monday, with their "God hates..." pretty-much-everyone-else signs and websites.

 

They use shock tactics to get media attention, such as picketing military funerals while declaring 9-11 to be God’s punishment and their wish for the death of more soldiers.  I might have let their presence pass without anything more than a tsk-tsk, knowing their words speak more loudly against them than anything anyone else could say.

 

Our children's school, however, is on their picket schedule, so that children from pre-school on will have to pass this group's picketing in order to get to class in the morning.

 


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SPLC PROVIDES TOOLS TO CURB RECRUITMENT OF TEENS BY RACIST HATE GROUPS; HATE CRIMES ON RISE

By Miriam Raftery

May 9, 2009 (La Mesa)—“There is an alarming increase in hate crimes in the United States,” James McElroy, chairman of the board for the Southern Law & Poverty Center (SLPC), told members and guests at the La Mesa –Foothills Democratic Club on May 6th. “We try to shine a little light on it. Hate is like a fungus under a rock. Shine a light and you can eradicate it.”


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