U.S. attracts foreign hate sites

CHICAGO, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The United States is playing host to hundreds of foreign-language Internet sites used to spread hate messages outlawed in many countries.

The Web sites use U.S. freedom of speech laws to skirt laws in their home countries that would prohibit the sites from being hosted, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.

Sites hosted in Chicago include Radio Islam, a hate site inspired by a Moroccan exile in Sweden, and an anti-Semitic site started by a man who was later extradited to Germany for Holocaust denial, the newspaper reported.

The German government has previously estimated 800 German-language hate sites are set up in the United States, but the embassy in Washington said there were no current figures.

Experts said site operators are using the First Amendment to circumvent laws in their home countries that ban hate speech.

"Essentially, our view is it's better to be able to confront their ideas and see what they're up to," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization. "But most Europeans regard the Americans as insane on this point. They really do."