An anti-racism group based in Paris has announced that it is
taking Yahoo! to court in France over the sale of Nazi memorabilia
on a web site which is hosted by the internet portal. The site
sells Nazi, neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan memorabilia to on-line
bidders, including films, swastikas, daggers, uniforms, photos and
medals. The site puts up hundreds of such items each day for
auction.
It is understood that no Nazi memorabilia is currently available on Yahoo!’s French site, yahoo.fr, but it is available at yahoo.com.
It is illegal in France to sell or display anything that incites racism. The International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (known as LICRA) is seeking an injunction in a Paris court to make all such auctions inaccessible to internet users in France and its territories. A hearing is set for 15th May 2000. LICRA has also asked for the imposition of a daily fine of 100,000 euros (£60,400) until Yahoo! complies.
A spokeswoman for Californian based Yahoo! said the company does not comment on pending lawsuits. However, in September 1999, Yahoo! was praised by a US Senate Judiciary Committee for combating racism on the internet by removing over 70 sites from its network which were run by hate groups.
LICRA, which previously called for a boycott of Yahoo sites for the same reason, said “this sale of symbols of the greatest ever crime against humanity trivialises Nazism in the extreme.”
Yahoo! has previously been attacked by a group called the Anti-Defamation League which accused the portal of hosting dozens of sites which promoted messages from racist hate groups.
