WASHINGTON, DC / ACCESSWIRE / January 28, 2021 / The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) published a landmark report "U.S.-Based 'Internet Archive' Hosts Massive Amount Of Neo-Nazi, White Supremacist, And Holocaust Denial Propaganda - Serving As Major Resource For Recruitment And Radicalization" by MEMRI Executive Director Steven Stalinsky and Lead Editor R. Sosnow.
In recent years, neo-Nazis, antisemites, and other white supremacist and racist groups have been using the Internet Archive (archive.org) for spreading their propaganda and incitement online. The massive online digital library is serving as a platform for these groups and individuals by allowing them - like everyone else - to easily create an account, using only an email address, in order to, in the Internet Archive's own words, "upload movies, audio, texts, software, images, and other formats... any time you wish." The page and link created when content is uploaded can then be shared with anyone else at any time.
For over a decade, MEMRI research has focused on how the Internet Archive has enabled Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other jihadi groups to use it as a file storage database from which they distribute their propaganda materials, conduct recruitment campaigns, incite violence, and fundraise.
This report highlights how now, like jihadis before them, the Internet Archive is enabling neo-Nazis and white supremacists to spread their messages of hate, incitement, and violence by allowing them to post content such as videos and books, and they are sharing this content by linking to it on the Internet Archive via other platforms, including Telegram.
The Internet Archive allows anyone to freely access - and share - these materials, and neo-Nazis and white supremacists regularly do so. They constantly link to them, discuss them, praise them, and promote them on their channels and accounts on a wide range of platforms, where they are reshared again and again. The Internet Archive has a responsibility to take steps to keep these materials from being disseminated for propaganda and recruitment purposes.
While the platform's mission - to provide "universal access to trustworthy knowledge" - is admirable, it is unacceptable that as popular platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, Twitter, YouTube, Google, and others are being held to task for their role in enabling the spread of antisemitic, racist, and hateful misinformation, with all-too-real and often deadly consequences, the Internet Archive remains a safe haven for such content and allows it to flourish.
The following report on antisemitic, Holocaust denial, white supremacist, and neo-Nazi content on the Internet Archive reflects what was available on the platform at the time of writing, and is only a small sample of the hate on the platform. All information in this report was accurate at the time of data collection. MEMRI will publish a follow-up report examining whether any of the content mentioned in this report is removed.
Government and media can request a copy of the full report by writing to [email protected] with the report title in the subject line.
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Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization. MEMRI's main office is located in Washington, DC, with branch offices in various world capitals. MEMRI research is translated into English, French, Polish, Japanese, Spanish and Hebrew.
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SOURCE: Middle East Media Research Institute