Session Description:

Mark Weitzman's discussion will focus on the proliferation of websites that advance the causes of those that do not support tolerance and diversity in the world and go beyond ideology to use the Internet as a vehicle for a call to action.

Referencing Digital Terrorism and Hate 2003, a CD compiled by the research division of the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Snider Social Action Institute, Weitzman will explore some of the most extreme cases. His session will also examine the need to balance and support civil liberties against the need to understand and/or take action against those who intend to harm and use the Internet to disseminate erroneous "facts" about world and historical events. Both topics raise complex questions for the global citizen, but the latter goes to a core role that defines Information Professionals -- helping others to develop the skills necessary to evaluate resources and information.