Stardate 20020222.1952

(On Screen): I sense another political storm coming. The US is going to reject another international treaty and get blamed for not playing along. Again.

This time it's going to be about hate speech. The Council of Europe is trying to outlaw it online.

The agreement would create a comprehensive legal framework for international crime fighters as they strive to identify and prosecute cross-border hate crimes on the Internet, an area politicians are eager to crack down on after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We must harmonize the laws first so that countries can cooperate in criminal investigations regarding the Internet," Peter Csonka, principal administrator at the Council of Europe, said Friday.

He added that many member states have already criminalized certain activities regarded as racist or xenophobic--such as threatening a group on the grounds of race, color or religion--and that the treaty would seek to extend that onto the Net.

The US can't play along, of course. Hate speech is protected speech under the First Amendment. Unless it actually represents a direct attempt to incite violence or insurrection, it cannot be suppressed through the use of laws. And that is how I think it should be.

I'm very worried about just what it is that they're going to consider hate speech anyway. Where is the dividing line? What actually constitutes hate speech? How can this avoid chilling free expression in the places where it will apply? Given the track record on this in Europe, I'm very afraid that it's going to be given a very broad interpretation.