Raphael Cohen-Almagor

Internet History

This paper outlines and analyzes milestones in the history of the Internet. As technology advances, it presents new societal and ethical challenges. The early Internet was devised and implemented in American research units, universities, and telecommunication companies that had vision and interest in cutting-edge research. The Internet then entered into the commercial phase 1984-1989. It was facilitated by the upgrading of backbone links, the writing of new software programs, and the growing number of interconnected international networks. The author examines the massive expansion of the Internet into a global network during the 1990s when business and personal computers with different operating systems joined the universal network. The instant and growing success of social networking-sites that enable Netusers to share information, photos, private journals, hobbies, and personal as well as commercial interests with networks of mutual friends and colleagues is discussed.

Belgian euthanasia law: a critical analysis

Some background information about the context of euthanasia in Belgium is presented, and Belgian law on euthanasia and concerns about the law are discussed. Suggestions as to how to improve the Belgian law and practice of euthanasia are made, and Belgian legislators and medical establishment are urged to reflect and ponder so as to prevent potential abuse.

Online Child Sex Offenders: Challenges and Counter‐Measures

The aim of this article is straightforward and practical: by utilising elements of routine activity and rational choice theories, it explains how online child sex offenders use the Internet and what can be done to counter the challenge they pose. The discussion opens with definitions of child pornography, child erotica, child exploitation material and paedophilia. Its main objective is to promote online protection of children. It is explained that online child sex offenders and paedophiles use the Internet to create virtual communities; collect, share and trade images; tempt, seduce and groom children. Then the article explores what has been done in the Western world to combat those criminal activities. Successful campaigns against child pornography require shared responsibility and effort by parents, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), legal enforcement and the international community at large.

Fighting Hate and Bigotry on the Internet

Internet hate speech is a specific type of online content that is designed to threaten certain groups publicly and act as propaganda for offline organizations. Hate groups use websites for sharing ideology, propaganda, linking to similar sites, recruiting new converts, advocating violence and threatening others. This article analyzes the ways hate speech on the Internet can be countered. From the perspective of applied ethics, it discusses the issue in the context of moral and social responsibility, a neglected perspective in the New Media literature. The study discusses the targets of hate on the Internet, provides a framework within which problems can be identified and resolved by accentuating moral and social responsibility, and articulates possible policy solutions to combat this increasing problem.

Harm Principle, Offence Principle, and the Skokie Affair

The primary aims are to formulate principles conducive to safeguarding fundamental civil rights and to employ the theory to analyse the Skokie affair. The focus is on the ethical question of the constraints on speech. I advance two arguments relating to the ‘Harm Principle’ and the ‘Offence Principle’. Under the ‘Harm Principle’, restrictions on liberty may be prescribed when there are sheer threats of immediate violence against some individuals or groups. Under the ‘Offence Principle’, expressions which intend to inflict psychological offence are morally on a par with physical harm and thus there are grounds for abridging them. Moving from theory to practice, in the light of the formulated principles, the ruling of the Illinois Supreme Court which permitted the Nazis to hold a demonstration in Skokie is argued to be flawed.

Hate in the Classroom: Free Expression, Holocaust Denial, and Liberal Education

This article is concerned with a specific type of hate speech: Holocaust denial. It is concerned with the expression of this idea by educators. Should we allow Holocaust deniers to teach in schools? This article attempts to answer this question through a close look at the Canadian experience. First, I will establish that Holocaust denial is a form of hate speech. Next, I will lay down the main premises of the argument and make some constructive distinctions that will guide our treatment of teachers who are Holocaust deniers. Finally, I will probe three cases—James Keegstra, Malcolm Ross, and Paul Fromm—and argue that hatemongers cannot assume the role of educators.

Combating right‐wing political extremism in Israel: Critical appraisal

The aim of this essay is to examine the decision to outlaw the ‘Kach’ and ‘Kahane Is Alive’ movements and to analyze some other measures the Israeli government has utilized in its struggle against political extremism. I argue that while the decision to outlaw the ‘Kach’ and ‘Kahane Is Alive’ movements was justified, resorting to administrative detentions at times which do not constitute real emergency is an utterly unethical and unjustified means in a democratic society. I further assert that Israel should make an exception to its Law of Return to the effect of excluding non‐Israeli members of these two movements from society by denying them the right of obtaining citizenship. Israel would be justified in applying content‐based reasoning to its decision of whether or not to grant citizenship to extreme elements who wish to settle on its soil.

Between Neutrality and Perfectionism

It has been argued that the difference between liberal states and theocratic, communist or fascist states is not that the liberal states promote different ideals of the good, but that they promote none. Unlike illiberal states, which regard it as a primary function of the state to prescribe the moral character of society, liberal states shun such attempts and allow freedom to citizens to develop their own conceptions. The aim of this paper is to analyze the notions of “conception of the good” and “neutrality” and to suggest a perspective which provides a middle ground between strict perfectionism, on the one hand, and complete neutrality, on the other. This perspective would allow plurality and diversity without resorting to absolute neutrality. It would involve some form of perfectionism without resorting to coercion. I will assert that liberal states do resort to some forms of perfectionism in conducting their policies. I will further argue that the policy they should adhere to is one of impartiality rather than one of neutrality.

Freedom of Expression v. Social Responsibility: Holocaust Denial in Canada

This article revisits media coverage of Holocaust denial, arguing that the media should introduce standards of responsibility into coverage of such hatred. The article defines Holocaust denial and hate speech, as well as outlines the concept of moral and social responsibility. Ernst Zündel and his claim to fame are also discussed. Also analyzed are the ways in which Zündel had exploited the media, including one episode in which the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation staged a media event, bringing to its studio Zündel and a Holocaust survivor. I conclude with a discussion of whether we should ban Holocaust denial tracts.

Responsibility and Ethics in the Canadian Media: Some Basic Concerns

In this article I analyze some of the troubling issues in Canadian media ethics, based on in-depth interviews with more than 50 experts on Canadian media. I begin by reflecting on the cultural considerations involved in the Canadian medias proximity to the United States. Subsequently, I discuss the problems of excessive ownership of the media by a few organizations, arguing that the right to exercise free expression does not include the right to own as many media organizations as money can buy. In this context are considered the work of two Royal Commissions: the 1970 Davey Commission and the 1980 Kent Commission. Finally, I am concerned with excessive intrusion of individual privacy. When news becomes entertainment (infotainment) and private stories become public spectacle, individual lives can be mercilessly exposed to the glaring spotlight of unwanted publicity. In delineating the boundaries of intrusion, there is a need to distinguish between public figures and ordinary citizens, and between those who choose to live in the spotlight and ordinary citizens who stumble into the public eye.