Let’s not force supremacists, hatemongers underground

Is it possible to cleanse the internet of white supremacism, neo-Nazism and other expressions of violent, hate-based ideologies? Is it a good idea even to try?

These are some of the questions that linger after the so-called Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last month.

Most of us are familiar with the internet comments-thread racist and the Twitter fascist — spreading his vile, vindictive thoughts anonymously, derailing civil conversation with lies and hate speech, and nobody is any the wiser about who he really is. Journalists, among others, are well acquainted with the anonymous sender of death threats, often embellished with anti-Semitism, racism and/or violent misogyny.

We also have long known that vast tracts of cyberspace are claimed by kooks and racists of every stripe. And we’ve made our uneasy peace with that. Freedom of speech, after all.

But at Charlottesville, the hoods came off. We learned that these people are organized and emboldened, and they have plans.

Charlottesville will long be remembered as a turning point in America’s confrontation with organized, militant hate groups, ones that many of us once believed were too marginal to represent a threat. Let’s not screw it up.

One thing that has happened since Charlottesville is that the leading websites for these groups have been banished by web hosting companies.

The first to go was The Daily Stormer. GoDaddy and Google canceled its domain registration after the site published a derogatory story about the death of Heather Heyer, the woman who died protesting against the racists at Charlottesville. She was struck by a car driven by an alt-right adherent.

Daily Stormer bounced around to some other hosts, including one in Albania, before going dark. It was followed by Stormfront, which has long billed itself as “the country’s oldest white supremacist website,” boasting 60,000 visitors daily.

On the surface, these actions feel like a victory for tolerance and public peace. That’s the perspective of Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the stellar organization that pressured Stormfront’s domain host by letter, specifically citing its role in helping to organize the Unite the Right rally.

The problem is that quashing their websites is unlikely to change beliefs or motivation. And it maydrive these movements further underground. And that could be even more dangerous. Police, journalists and average citizens deserve a look at who these people are and what they are saying.

It’s counterintuitive on first glance. But there is a flipside to forcing hate groups underground. We need potentially dangerous people to be visible to law enforcement.

Remember, Charlottesville ignited a strong reply. Good people were galled. In city after city, they spoke out, organizing their own rallies against the hate.

It’s a perfect moment in America. We have chosen the constitutionally sound response of meeting hate speech with good speech. It’s the response we must hold to, no matter how discomforting it is to listen to forces of hate.

We need potentially dangerous people to be visible to law enforcement.

Mary Sanchez She writes for the Kansas City Star.