Reflections on the colour of the internet

Abstract

This chapter raises questions on issues of race, the Internet and human rights. As the Internet becomes crucial for information and communication its access to the broad population becomes an important human rights issue. As well, the character of the Internet as it reflects the North American military-industrial, economic, racial and political power elite reproduces cleavages between people-based on colour, among other factors. In the first section of the chapter, a series of reflections on Internet-site ‘lurking’ and speaking out from what has been characterized as an anonymous and racially-colourless perspective is detailed. Although very popular, this activity invokes some ethical questions about the right to know whom one is addressing versus the right to identity privacy. This becomes a particularly murky situation when hate sites are involved.