CZECHS HIGHLIGHT CONCERNS ABOUT NEO-NAZI HATE

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000528 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EZ EUN SUBJECT: CZECHS HIGHLIGHT CONCERNS ABOUT NEO-NAZI HATE SPEECH IN US REF: A. PRAGUE 00488 ¶B. ASWAD-CARNIE E-MAIL DATED 7.24.2008 ¶C. STATE 76294 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On July 25, Emboffs delivered Ref. C demarche to Czech Director of Human Rights and Transition Policy, Gabriela Dlouha. Dlouha noted concerns raised by several domestic and international NGOs with the Czech MFA about neo-Nazi content, which is allowed on U.S.-hosted websites and Internet domains. The main NGO to raise this concern was the Czech Helsinki Committee, which is concerned that European neo-Nazi groups will use U.S. websites to spread their violent message. ¶2. (SBU) According to Dlouha, several European governments, including GoCR, have removed neo-Nazi content from their Internet domains. However, due to the worldwide availability of the Internet, neo-Nazi groups in Europe are able to exploit U.S. web domains to bypass these restrictions by European governments. Dlouha noted neo-Nazi content could be viewed as an appeal to violence and represents a threat to peace and security. She also pointed to USG actions to block terrorism and child pornography content on U.S. domains as examples of what could be done. ¶3. (SBU) In response, Emboffs explained the USG position (Ref. B) that while we abhor the ideologies of hatred and condemn intolerant speech, our position is that such speech needs to be confronted and denounced but not limited or outlawed - with the exception that we do not allow for the incitement of violence. Per Ref. B, Emboffs also extended an offer for Czech experts to discuss these issues in more detail with free speech experts from the State Department's Office of the Legal Advisor. Dlouha expressed general interest in the offer, but made no firm commitments. According to Dlouha, the Czech delegation to the OSCE's Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw does not intend to raise the issue of neo-Nazi content on U.S.-hosted Internet domains "at this time." Thompson-Jones