TORONTO — Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) last week honoured Toronto Police chief Bill Blair and York Region chief Armand La Barge for their efforts in promoting tolerance.
In a ceremony at the Center’s North York offices, the two chiefs were lauded for enforcing hate-crime laws and in promoting officer sensitivity training.
At the same time, the FSWC released its latest report, Digital Terrorism & Hate 2.0, an interactive CD that identifies 8,000 online sources of hate and terrorism. That represents a 30 per cent increase over 2007.
“Chief La Barge and Chief Blair demonstrate determination and a commitment to reduce hate crimes, promoting community education about the consequences hate campaigns can have on the lives of innocent people in Toronto and the GTA,” said Avi Benlolo, president and CEO of the FSWC.
“We honour them for promoting tolerance and human rights at a time when Internet hate appears to be on the rise in Canada and beyond.”
Fifteen years ago, the Center identified only one site that could be characterized as promoting hate. Since then, the number of such sites has exploded, and many web locations now offer recruitment and instruction in terrorism, said Leo Adler, director of national affairs for the FSWC.
An estimated 1.3 billion people have access to the Internet, but it only takes one person to “cause havoc, death and destruction” by learning how to commit terrorist acts from the web, Adler said.
Pointing to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing – America’s worst case of domestic terrorism – Adler noted that the same bomb-making formula used in that attack was available on the web and that domestic terrorism suspects were planning to employ that same type of bomb in Toronto, though three times more powerful.
“For all its good, [the Internet] has the potential for evil as well” and terrorists need not rely on large numbers to have a tremendous impact, he said.
In its ireport – Online Terror + Hate: The First Decade, released with the CD, the FSWC proposed a 10-point action plan addressed to families and online users to identify and curb the dangers posed by Internet terrorism and hate.
Parents are urged to stress that “hate is never cool,” even if it’s on the web. Children must also be warned about online postings that seem educational but that vilify religions and groups. Parents must actively take an interest in what their children are viewing on the web and not treat the Internet as a babysitting service, the ireport suggests.
Cartoons and games may not be as innocent as they appear, Adler suggested. There are online games that allow the user to shoot blacks or Mexicans crossing the U.S. border, while others are homophobic or glorify the Columbine shooting.
Few of the problematic sites are located in Canada. “We have been very successful bringing these sites to their [Canadian Internet service providers] attention, and very often they remove them,” Adler said.
Sites hosted in the United States and other countries, however, are readily available in Canada, he added.
The Internet is increasingly being used “as a propaganda and recruitment tool of major hate groups worldwide, such as Hamas, KKK, Al Qaeda and various neo-Nazi groups,” FSWC said in a release.
In an interview with The CJN, La Barge said there were “no instances” in York Region of such recruitment by either Hamas or Al Qaeda. York Region police co-operate with RCMP, CSIS and other law enforcement agencies to investigate extremist groups.
“Islamic terrorist groups are being investigated and other terrorist groups,” La Barge stated.
Blair said the ideologies of Hamas and Al Qaeda are actively promoted on the Internet, and Toronto police “continue to monitor Internet activity” among some young people.
Benlolo said the CD and its companion ireport will be distributed to law enforcement officials, politicians, educators and journalists.