AN URGENT NEED TO PUT AN END TO INTERNET AND MEDIA RACISM

According to a recent report, “Australia's Race Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes, along with academics and industry groups, are taking part in the forum, which was organised by the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Internet Industry Association”.

Commissioner Innes said, “In my view and the view of other[s] speaking at the forum today it’s the tip of the iceberg, there's a lot [of] racism out there.” The good news is that Robert McClelland, Australia’s Attorney General has asked the Australian Human Rights Commission to ‘investigate the doubling of complaints’. It’s a step in the right direction, but what McClelland should be doing is setting his own team up to investigate breaches of the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 and then vigorously prosecuting those that are stirring up racial and religious tensions via the media and the internet.

Right-wing anti-Islam and anti non-white immigration journalist/bloggers and their followers are, thanks to the right-wing mainstream media owners who support them, slowly making headway in creating an atmosphere in Australia that will eventually tear Australia apart racially – which, of course, is what they want.

Andrew Bolt is Australia’s most rabid racist and, thanks to his position with the Melbourne -based and Murdoch owned newspaper the ‘Herald-Sun’, attracts the most support from like-minded racists and other misguided Australians who are gullible enough to fall for Bolts and his followers fearmongering.

The doubling of complaints is very disturbing and has been due to the likes of Bolt and his colleagues and their followers increasing prominence in the mainstream media and on the internet via their blogs.

The only way to stop these people is to prosecute them. I believe that the evidence proving that much of their racism is in contravention to the Racial Discrimination Act is overwhelming just in the blogs alone; it just needs documenting and then handed over to the Attorney General or, alternatively, handed over to a barrister with a view to a private prosecution.

So far, no prosecutions of racist journalists have occurred. This has emboldened them to be even more blatant in their racism. It’s time those that deplore racism and all that it stands for to stand firm against it and support their prosecution and the shutting down of their racist views in public forums.

Free speech is one thing; advocating racial and religious hatred, violence and vilification is something else.

Many thanks to reader Peter for his input to the discussion.