Washington, D.C., October 23, 2001…The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has joined with the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) to expand and internationalize the effort to counter hate online. ICRA is a public-private international partnership, which includes such Internet industry leaders as AOL, IBM and Microsoft.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

The events of September 11 remind us that hateful words and ideas can inspire violent and destructive actions. In the Internet age, hate speech can easily be found and read online by the most vulnerable members of society - young, impressionable children.

Filtering software is one important tool that parents can use to protect their children from hate speech. Concerned that hate on the Internet was growing as use of the Internet skyrocketed, we developed the ADL HateFilter™ in 1998. This filtering software program was specifically designed to block access to sites that in our judgment advocate hatred, bigotry or even violence toward Jews or other groups on the basis of their religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.

We welcome the opportunity to expand our efforts in this area by providing the ADL HateFilter list of hate sites for use with ICRAfilter, the new filtering software program created by the Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA).

We commend ICRA, which has designed a free and easy-to-use filtering program that empowers parents to protect their children from hate online. ICRAfilter gives parents a tool to block or allow access to a site on the basis of its description. ICRA also acknowledges that some Web sites, such as hate sites, may not describe themselves honestly or may refuse to describe themselves at all. For this reason, ICRAfilter permits trusted third parties, such as ADL, to develop lists of objectionable Web sites ("no" lists). When a parent chooses to activate a "no" list, ICRAfilter will prevent access to a Web site on the list regardless of how that site describes itself.

The target date for release of the full version of ICRAfilter is Spring 2002. In the meantime, ADL HateFilter is still available at ADL's Web site.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.