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 Ernst Zundel, the portly little Nazi propagandist who has fouled Canada’s air since he arrived here more than forty years ago, is gone. So we are told, in any event, by the Globe and Mail. After spewing racist and Holocaust-denying filth for too many years, Mr. Zundel has moved to Tennessee with his wife. Mr. Zundel had been facing possible deportation, but pulled up stakes and declared that he was another victim of Canada’s “brain drain.” Before we start uncorking the champagne - and before we start querying Mr. Zundel’s assertion that he possessed a brain that could be drained - it is important that we recall one salient fact. Mr. Zundel remains with us, thanks to the Internet. On his “Zundelsite,” which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, Mr. Zundel continues to propagate hatred against Jews and non-whites. Along with him, the Simon Weisenthal Centre estimates, there are approximately 3,000 other hate sites, some of which are specifically designed to attract children. Given the fact that Canadian children spend more time on the Internet, on an hourly or per capita basis, than virtually any other nation on Earth, one would assume officialdom would be concerned. But such is not the case. On the contrary: two years ago in May, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) issued a report concerning the Internet. The CRTC’s decision left everyone stunned - including, I am reliably informed, many senior government ministers. In its report on the so-called new media, the CRTC concluded recently that the Commission would do nothing to stem the proliferation of hate propaganda and child pornography in cyberspace. Apparently eager to curry favor with the libertarian crowd, CRTC chairperson Françoise Bertrand provided a copy of her remarks with the following passage helpfully bolded: “The CRTC will not regulate new media services on the Internet. Our message is clear. Let me repeat that for those of you who were worried - the CRTC will not regulate any portion of the Internet.” How courageous! The single bureaucratic entity with the legal mandate to regulate electronic broadcast media, concluding - for itself - that it will not regulate the most important electronic broadcast medium to appear since television. Neo-Nazis, violent pornographers and pedophiles rejoice! You no longer need to “worry,” to use Ms Bertrand’s word, about a pesky government agency sticking its nose into your business. Gushed Ms. Bertrand: “We believe, as did many of the people who made submissions on this issue, that appropriate tools already exist to deal with offensive and illegal content.” And what are these other “tools” to combat hate propaganda and child pornography? In the view of the CRTC, running away from the problem as quickly as its legs would permit, these include “laws of general application, industry self-regulation, content-filtering software as well as increased media awareness.” Well, “laws of general application” haven’t worked. In the past 30 years, in fact, there have been only two successful hate propaganda prosecutions in this country. Hate crimes don't seem to have become any less frequent, do they? “Industry self-regulation,” meanwhile, is a hoary old chestnut, favoured by de-regulators and privatizers everywhere. It hasn’t done the job, either. Had the CRTC researched the issue, they would have noted that most Internet providers have stubbornly refused to clean up their cyber-sewers. And what of “content-filtering software?” About as effective as the colander found in your kitchen. “Media awareness,” in my books, is an oxymoron. Apart from the polemic you now grasp in your inky maulers, can you remember reading anything about this issue since the CRTC non-decision? Anywhere? Even a line or two? Didn’t think so. A few days ago, there was a glimmer of hope. Industry Minister Brian Tobin and Justice Minister Anne McLellan launched a strategy to combat, among other things, Internet hate. Working with the RCMP, the Media Awareness Network, and many others, the resulting report (available at http://www.connect.gc.ca/cyberwise) attempts to kick-start different ways to snuff out hate and child pornography on the web. Let’s hope Mr. Tobin and Ms. McLellan can compensate for the CRTC’s willful negligence. And, in the meantime, let us also hope that Ernst Zundel remains where he has crawled - under some rock in the Deep South.
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