Citizens Against Hate's

Eye On Hate

Words From MSN Victims of Hate!

The following are emails that have been recieved by "Eye On Hate" in respose to our questions, "Have you had personal experiences with racists and racism while in the MSN groups? Do you believe that MSN is promoting racism? Do you believe that MSN is enforcing their Code of Conduct?" The names of those submitting replies have been altered for their protection.

To the Administrators of Citizens Against Hate:

Yes, I have met the MSN haters. I had a site for writers on MSN. It was doing quite well until the White Supremacists came to town.It seems that once they read that I am Jewish there was nothing that would hold them back. They plastered the photo albums and message boards with filth and hate messages. As soon as I cleaned it up they returned to do it again. Because of the disruptive nature of these people most of my good members left. I complained to MSN over and over. The only response that I ever got was a form letter saying that they were sorry for the inconvenience and that they would "look into it." Eventually I just closed the site and moved to another location. I don't know about anyone else, but I think that their actions qualify as a hate crime.

Thank you for your efforts...

Nadine

Hello,

I ran into a whole bunch of those racists on some of the boards that I frequent. I am mostly interested in current events and politics and they are all over those boards. They disrupt everything and with them everything boils down to race. Right after the September11, attacks there were two in particular who were posting thoughts from some of the racist organizations and they were saddened because more Jews were not killed and upset because whites did not seem as dedicated to the cause as the suicide bombers were to theirs. They got kicked out of several communities but they just came back under different names.

One community that I belonged to was always getting trashed with porn pics and swastikas and hate messages. There were lots of black people posting there and the stuff that these racist people did to them was awful! I know that a whole lot of us complained to MSN time and time again. They didn't do anything and that community just closed. The manager said it wasn't worth it. You are asking if MSN promotes racism. In my book they sure don't do anything to stop it.

Charlcie

Racists on MSN...you bet! I closed a site and changed my online identity because of those horrible people. They attacked me viciously on several of the boards that I loved because of my liberal views. That was bad enough but when they located pictures of me and my family in one of the albums of those sites they posted them all over the place with disgusting captions. Seeing the faces of my children underlined by captions of filth taught me never to trust anyone on the internet. For a long time I was very afraid that they would find me and my family. I begged MSN to do something but it took several months for them to acknowledge that they got my plea. The same racists are still terrorizing people on those boards and it has been over a year.

Rabbit

To The Managers Of "Eye On Hate:"

You asked about the racists on MSN communities and about MSN itself. Well, I have seen these people up close and quite personal - about as personal as you can get on a computer. They permeate almost every category and realm of MSN communities. They are ruthless and are becoming more so. What do I know? Only what I have seen. I have seen them destroy really good discussion venues. I have seen them bully and intimidate really good people. I have seen them threaten and harrass blacks and other minorities. I have seen them steal online identities and utilize these names to post obscene filth for the purpose of disparaging the one they are impersonating. I have seen them locate a member whom they disliked and post her picture and personal information (address, telephone # etc.)all over the web. I have seen them take a picture of a member and place it on an FBI wanted poster for child molestation. I have seen them stalk members throughout cyber-space for the purpose of striking fear and intimidation. And, you know what...I have seen this for over three years. It has gotten a lot worse in the last year and I don't see MSN doing one thing about any of it. Contact MSN? A whole bunch of people have done that and are doing that. But it seems that MSN is always out to lunch.

Stormy

Hey you guys!

You all are doing this eye on hate thing and that is good. That is good because there are a whole lot of people who are being victimized by these people on MSN. These racists really like to trash good sites and threaten the people that don't agree with them. When you step up on them and challenge them they always scream freedom of speech. I got into it with one of them about a month ago and he emailed me a message saying that he was going to find me and he sent a graphic. I thought I would forward it to you. Do whatever you want with it. I think the "A.W.K." stands for Alabama White Knights not sure. This is just typical of the kinds of things that go on on MSN boards. Its getting quite a reputation.

TLC

Please do not publish my name and email address. I feel that I must speak up at this point in time. About a year ago I joined an MSN anti-racist group. There were some really devoted and intersting people there and the discussion was always good. There was always a few people who you knew were racist but they never admittred to it. Before too long though the board was dominated by the racists. It seemed like everyday we were in a battle. There were a couple of people who were managers and they really tried to keep the racists out. But, their message boards were devastated with messages of hate, racism, and vulgarity. We all contacted MSN and asked for some help. It never came. I got two form letters from them saying that they thanked me for being patient and that they would look into it. So I stuck it out. I saw these people threaten the managers. One of them insinuated that he would bomb their house. They posted pictures of black lynchings under all of my posts. They found me in other groups that I visited and called me racial names and accused me of being a pedophile. They went into other groups and posted things about members of the anti-hate group that were false and degrading. Eventually, I just quit going to the MSN groups because truthfully I was afraid. I go back every now and then and read some of the posts. The racists are still there and are bolder than ever. Msn really does nothing to enforce their Code of Conduct. Some of the racists have even stated that they have friends inside of MSN. It is so sad that a company as big as MSN refuses to stop this hate in their groups. What do they think they will gain?

Marcel

In response to your questions, MSN enforces its Code of Conduct selectively. I have had my groups closed down for one paragraph of racist rhetoric that was posted by one of the infamous MSN boneheads. I get notifications of closure because of a copyright violation but there are sites that run at will violating every copyright law and all of the COC terms. Racism is rampant and continuing. They will enter a site, post a racist picture or message and complain to MSN. Msn comes in and shuts the group down. But their white supremacist and Nazi groups continue unscathed. I don't care how many complaints are lodged, MSN refuses to act. I am of the opinion that something is very very suspect with this whole MSN group thing. And yes I think they are promoting racism.

Eugene