© Jewish Western Bulletin, March 23, 1995

If Ernst Zundel has his way, he'll soon be spreading his Holocaust denial views on the Internet, possibly escaping the realms of Canadian hate legislation.

Zundel recently announced he's preparing to set up a link to the global information network possibly be setting up his own World Wide Web (WWW) site.

"At the present moment, Internet enjoys the ultimate freedom of expression and there's nothing in federal or provincial legislation that can prevent him [Zundel] from doing this," according to Erwin Nest, Canadian Jewish Congress (Pacific Region) executive director.

Michael Elterman, chair of CJC's community relations committee, agreed, admitting that while "CJC and the government are really lagging behind the technology," ultimate responsibility of regulating Internet lies with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.

"CRTC is responsible for phone lines - they need to take a more active role and some responsibility for what is happening," Eltermann opined.

CJC will deal with fighting hate on the Internet at its upcoming plenary assembly in Montreal in May. One of the guest speakers will be Ken McVay, who fights Holocaust denial on the Internet. (See JWB March 9).

McVay, who appeared not to be overly concerned with a potential Zundel site, told JWB that it has been in part due to Zundel's actions that prompted him "to expand the Web page [a web site index, similar to a book's index] as part of a massive worldwide project [in which] my machine will be on the 'Net in a few months.

"We've also arranged to have my [Holocaust] archives on the computer systems of two German libraries. Within a month all 20,000 documents [sic] will be listed on the Web page."

What McVay does find particularly ironic is the fact that Zundel may open the site in the U.S., in effect "crossing" the border but "doing it from his own home."

Elterman said Zundel "can do what he wants outside the country because [ultimately] it's a problem we're going to have to deal with whether he's in Canada or the U.S. ...the effect is the same."

If Zundel creates his own site, not only will it be virtually impossible to enforce hate legislation if the site is outside Canada, but there are other implications, according to a JWB source.

"Creating his own site is far more dangerous and insidious than posting articles in 'newsgroups.' Material in newsgroups can be challenged ...[but] material placed in a WWW site is wholly under the control of the person maintaining the site.

"Nothing gets posted there except what the person overseeing the site chooses to place there," the JWB source warned.

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