Discriminatory Messages are Increasing on the Internet
Shigeshi Tabata
Mie Prefectural Human Rights Issues Research Office
Discriminatory messages on the Internet have been increasing as the Internet spreads in Japan. However the actual situation, such as what kinds of messages appear, are not clearly known to people. While it has been pointed out that young people are not so interested in the Buraku issue, many of them are indifferent to discrimination found on the Internet. They tend to be prejudiced on the Internet, in a same way that discriminatory consciousness is implanted on them in society without the awareness of discrimination issues. I would like to clarify what kinds of people are putting discriminatory messages on the Internet as below.
1. by people who had received Dowa education insufficiently. They have knowledge of the Buraku issue, but do not have enough sympathy for those who are discriminated against;
2. by people who do not have any knowledge of the Buraku issue and easily side with discriminatory practices;
3. by people who are prejudiced either in society or at home. They put discriminatory messages based on their hearsay;
4. by people who take delight in people's reaction to discriminatory messages on websites or in damaging others' web sites;
5. by people who want to continuously write discriminatory words;
6. by people who are jealous of Buraku communities where the Government has implemented special measures. They propagate the special measures as reverse discrimination, only to increase the sympathizers of such propaganda
In 1997 a web site inciting discrimination was created by a rightist group, and discriminatory remarks appeared on a bulletin board of the web page of the Buraku Liberation Study Circle of an Osaka University students' circle.(see the editor's note)
Before the Internet has widely spread, many of discriminatory statements had appeared within a computer communication network. In this case companies that ran the networks were to some extent capable of coping with discriminatory messages. They identified the perpetrator and deleted the message after receiving the protest. However, in the rapid popularization of the Internet, especially since 1997, there has been increasing in number of discriminatory messages and web pages found on cyber space. As a result, it became difficult for us to identify perpetrators and delete such messages or close web pages carrying the discriminatory propaganda. Even if we drive them into a closure of the web pages, it will not bring about a solution. Those messages in question would be copied and appear on different web pages. In the absence of the law prohibiting such a practice, it is quite important for us to raise awareness of people in order to prevent the similar practices.
On the other hand, it is imperative to take measures against Buraku lists carried on the Internet, considering the big impact of the Internet in the present society. In the past, Buraku lists identifying the location of Buraku communities and background investigation incidents incited discrimination against Buraku and Korean people as well as other discriminated-against people.
Reflecting circumstances around the Internet in Japan, the tendency of discriminatory practices on the Internet changes gradually. The following are the characteristics of discriminatory messages on the Internet in 1999:
1. increase of discriminatory messages put by students;
2. increase of reappearance of copied messages or duplication of web pages on other Internet service providers, after the original message was questioned and deleted;
3. increase of the use of foreign websites;
4. increase of providers which do not cope with discrimination even when they receive complaints and protests;
5. increase of web pages where supporters of the Neo-Nazism incite xenophobia.
While web pages advocating human rights have been created by many NGOs, they encountered malicious messages. Some of the websites were compelled to close their message boards.
There are several types of people/organizations who damage message boards of human rights organizations' web pages: those who take delight in damaging others boards; those who believe Neo-Nazism ideology and target organizations supporting the rights of foreigners; and those who feel resentment at having their discriminatory message boards closed because of the protests from human rights advocates.
As mentioned above, discrimination on the Internet is a serious problem, considering that the Internet will spread more widely in the future.
In view of young people's indifference to the Buraku issue, human rights education should be provided with the youth, in particular. It is also necessary for us to appeal: the necessity of human rights education in the framework of information education; the necessity of human rights education targeted to Internet service providers; and for the government to enact a law prohibiting discrimination as well as to implement the measures protecting individuals' privacy.
(Editor's Note)
In May 1997 a man who led a rightist group constructed his own web page starting with a slogan, "Let's protect the tradition, pride and dominant heredity succeeded from our ancestors, and pass them down to our descendants."
This web page consisted of 15,000 letters and was an outright discriminatory writing, slandering people with disabilities and Buraku people.
After the BLL protested about the discriminatory contents to a web page service provider where he constructed his pages, they deleted them based on their bylaws.
The Buraku Liberation Study Circle, Osaka University students' circle, created a bulletin board on their web page in July 1996 to facilitate free discussions on the Buraku issue. After a month, an anonymous letter first appeared on it, saying that they have to extinguish bad blood. Many people reacted to the letter, criticizing the opinion. Through many discussions and efforts at human rights awareness-raising by the people concerned, the writer finally felt remorse and apologized for his remarks.
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