Computer Nets Need Same Standards as Public Displays

Column by Jonathan Richmond

Advisory Board

"How do you get one hundred jews into a V.W.?" asked Yngve K.  Raustein
'94 on the computerized bulletin board known as eunet.jokes.  Raustein,
who posed the question from an Athena workstation at MIT, also supplied
the answer.  "Two in the front, three in the back and the rest in the ash
tray." Another of his series of "jokes" making fun of the murder of Jews in
the Holocaust was a story about a Gestapo officer who asks "a little Jewish
boy" his age and, upon being told "I'll turn five this autumn," tells him that
he won't.  There is also a joke about a "jew [sic] with ...  gas tanks on his
back" being an addict or a pusher -- a reference to the gas tanks which
killed millions of Jews during WWII.

As a result of the posting, Athena received three complaints asking that
Raustein's account be deleted.  One of those who complained, Henk de
Groot of Digital Equipment Corporation in Holland, says he received a
response from Athena telling him and Raustein "to settle the matter in
private." Raustein says he also received this note.  Raustein then sent e-mail
to de Groot telling him he was a "stupid shit" and other abusive terms.  De
Groot concluded (in a further posting to the bulletin board) that MIT "will
not do anything against it, even though they know what's going on, so I
assume that MIT does approve of this kind of posting and is willing to pay
for the expense of it."

At the end of his "jokes" Raustein had asked if anybody could remember
similar material, and more "Holocaust humor" was submitted by others,
along with complaints about Raustein's original posting.  Raustein, who
clearly knew his behavior would cause offense -- he had put at the top of
his "jokes" the caveat "Some absolutely disgusting jokes here, that will
probably offend a lot of you" -- responded by saying he regretted not
encrypting the jokes before sending them, and he promised to do so in the
future.  Claiming that his "jokes" were not racist, he then said: "If anyone
has more Jewish jokes (or other kind of tasteless jokes, except racist jokes),
but [would] hesitate to post them to the net, please e-mail me!" He would
then compile and encode them and "post them to an appropriate forum of
humor."

Ensuing discussion, both on Usenet and Athena mailing lists, expressed a
range of opinions.  One writer from France said, "The original post has
nothing to do with ethnic humor and everything to do with fascist/Nazi
humor ...  A public forum such as eunet.jokes is not always the appropriate
place for this kind of humor because you don't know who is reading what
you post." A posting from England, however, defended this type of humor
because the "world needs free exchange of ideas."

Joseph M.  Grossman '94, secretary of MIT Hillel, wrote to Athena's "Jewtalk"
mailing list regarding the "jokes." In his response on Jewtalk, Raustein said
"I understand fully that the jokes were very offensive to some of you, and I
have apologized for not trying to keep the wrong people from reading
them." He also said he would not submit such material again, "except,
maybe, in private."

One MIT student followed up by saying that the effect "of his jokes are to
spread hatred and ridicule.  That is racism and is hurtful to Jews even when
they do not hear these jokes." Another said "Raustein is an anti-Semite, no
two ways about it.  He not only eagerly spreads these "jokes," he does it
with obvious relish, and solicits others for more material for his collection ...
Anti-Semitic remarks and "jokes" are not protected speech, they are racist
and harassment, and are in violation of MIT's harassment policy."

A further MIT student, however, answered that it was "ludicrous to claim
that someone is obviously an anti-Semite just because they are not so
scarred by the Holocaust that they can laugh about it...  In any case, I find
any policy which says, in effect, `Any speech which someone finds offensive
is harassment,' to be patently offensive and in direct conflict with the
principles of free speech embodied in our Constitution and society."

In many countries of the world which restrict the transmission of racist
material, Raustein's posting would be illegal.  The fact that some of the
countries reached by Raustein's postings have such restrictive laws raises
the question of whether Raustein -- and possibly MIT as owner of the
equipment used -- are breaking the laws of those countries.  In the United
States and at MIT, there are more shades of gray.  Those opposed to any
restriction can cry "freedom of speech," citing the First Amendment.  Those
who do so, however, act as if speech was the only freedom to which we are
entitled.  People at MIT are also entitled to exist in a non-threatening
professional and educational environment.  The difficult question is not
whether one particular right should be supported, but what to do when two
rights clash.

While there is an explicit side to "freedom of speech," there is also an
implicit side that is perhaps best understood in the context of how women
are regarded on many computer nets.  Raustein's recent posting is not, of
course, the only example of boorish activity on the net.  There is a constant
torrent of material which is derogatory to all manner of races and people.
Perhaps particularly noteworthy because of their wide acceptance are
remarks and "jokes" at the expense of women.  Recently on eunet.jokes, for
example, we heard yet more reasons "Why Beer is Better Than Women,"
including "After you've had a beer, the bottle is still worth five cents."
Another post asked, "What's the excess skin around a vagina called?"
Answer: a woman.

While jokes against particular races generate a massive flap, similar material
aimed at women generally receives no reaction at all.  Is it any wonder that
participation on Usenet is so heavily male-dominated when behavior such
as this is so common?  Are women not going to feel uncomfortable about
joining an environment where these views are expressed?  Isn't such
discomfort in itself a form of restriction on their freedom of speech?

The problem is exacerbated because the computer has gained a special
status which tacitly exempts it from the standards expected elsewhere on
campus.  While anti-Semitic and misogynistic material is unhesitatingly put
on computer bulletin boards, would Raustein or others so readily post it --
and sign it -- on actual bulletin boards around MIT?  No, because there
would be a tremendous uproar and possibly disciplinary action.  Remember
the fuss made about the negative image of women supposedly projected by
the "Sabor Latino" poster that Hispanic students put up around campus to
advertise a dance?  And it didn't even reduce a woman to a vagina, much
less laugh at turning an enitre civilization into ash.

"Jokes" are not the only form of intolerant behavior on the computer.
Discussion on many net newsgroups is completely lacking in civility, and
would be regarded as unacceptable if conducted among people meeting in
person.  People will send e-mail they would never drop in the U.S.  mail.

The computer somehow makes it easy to do things which would otherwise
be unacceptable.  It is too easy to detach the keyboard and the screen from
the people receiving the invective typed there.  And we have all become
used to screaming when we see something we don't like on a bulletin board,
but shrugging our shoulders when it's on the net.  What we need to do
above all is tell ourselves that as a community, we must set the same
standards of mutual respect on the computer as we do everywhere else.
And we must also deal with infractions of such mutual respect on the
computer in the same way we deal with them everywhere else.

----
Copyright 1992 by The Tech. All rights reserved.
This storied was published on Tuesday, February 4, 1992.
Volume 112, Number 2
The story was printed on page  5.
This article may be freely distributed electronically, provided it is
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