The internet company Google is hosting a blog from Jamaica that calls for gay people to be killed. ‘killbattyman' carries images of the recent incident in Kingston when a mob surrounded a shop where three allegedly gay men had taken refuge, under the headline: "Bring Out The Gays." The site, which has been on Google's blogger.com service since March 2006, features numerous slurs against gay people, including UK gay activist Peter Tatchell, and also libels numerous heterosexual people, such as actors Christopher Reeve and John Travolta. The author or authors accuse all rappers of being gay and call on Jamaicans to murder all gay people. A spokeswoman for Google told PinkNews.co.uk, "We take this very seriously. I cannot comment on individual blogs but this one has been brought to our attention. "The blogger team will investigate and if it is found to violate our terms and conditions or is illegal we will take appropriate action." The site was featured on socialist blog site Harry's Place, which asked if killbattyman was inciting murder. "This is not a free speech issue. Incitement to murder shuts down the very exchange of ideas that free speech seeks to promote," said Harry's Place. "In the light of ongoing violent attacks against Jamaica's gay community - why is Google allowing its services to be used to incite murder by hosting this hate site?" The first entry on the blog is a picture of Peter Tatchell with the caption: "In some countries, when parents want their children to behave, they tell them "THE TATCHELL MAN IS GOING TO COME FOR YOU!" Mr Tatchell told PinkNews.co.uk, “This website is sick and illegal. Inciting murder is a criminal offence. I am appalled that Google is hosting this site. "It goes against their policy. Killbattyman fuels homophobic hatred and in Jamaica this hatred kills." Reaction in the US has also been strong. Scott Long, who heads the LGBT Rights programme at Human Rights Watch, told PinkNews.co.uk, “This website publishes names, photographs, descriptions of specific people, and the message is murder. "I can't speak to the legal niceties, but morally and in every other way it's appalling, and it looks like a compilation of direct threats to me. Blogspot has no business hosting this violent insanity." The blog can be viewed at killbattyman.blogspot.com. The site now comes with this warning from Google: “Some readers of this blog have contacted Google because they believe this blog's content is hateful. In general, Google does not review nor do we endorse the content of this or any blog.” Email complains should be sent via email to press@google.com. Ref: Pinknews.co.uk (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Saturday, 24th February 2007 - 12:00pm