On Jan. 16 we posted about a Guardian reader whose commenting privileges were not suspended by the editors, despite the fact that he promoted Holocaust denial in the comment section under a Guardian story (on Jan. 14) about Holocaust education in the UK, and the fact that his user profile contained a link to a white supremacist site called ‘British Resistance‘.
As we revealed, not only was the commenter, who uses the moniker ‘CorshmCrusader‘, a fan of ‘British Resistance’, but actually serves as the site’s deputy editor – a Nazi sympathizer named Mark Kennedy.
We asked our readers to consider emailing the Guardian’s ‘Comment Editor’ asking for an explanation regarding why someone who clearly violates ‘Comment is Free’ “community standards” has not been banned.
Today we were contacted by a fan of our blog, a Holocaust educator and author named Dan Hennessy, copying us on the email he sent to the Guardian.
Here it is, with Mr. Hennessy’s permission:
To the editors:
As a Holocaust educator, it is disturbing that you treat the individual using the moniker “CorshmCrusader,” who is known to be a white supremacist, as you would any other “contributor” to your periodical; and yet, you [ban others] who obviously disagree with you. Who is allowed freedom of speech in your domain? Everyone? Or just those who toe the line with regard to your ideological bias?
I just taught 1984 by George Orwell in an upper division secondary English class. Your decisions in this regard seem quite in line with Ministry of Truth standards.
~ Daniel Hennessy
Again, here’s the email for the Guardian editor if you also want to inquire about the status of CorshmCrusader.
comment.editors@guardian.co.uk
Related articles
- CiF’s Jonathan Romain, and ‘Guardian Left’ rationalizations for antisemitism (cifwatch.com)
- Not banned by the Guardian: White nationalist crusader against the ‘Holohoax’ (cifwatch.com)
- Jonathan Freedland’s illusions about the nature of modern antisemitism (cifwatch.com)
- Guardian readers, and Holocausts real and imagined (cifwatch.com)
- Banned by the Guardian: My journey at ‘Comment is Free’ comes to an end (cifwatch.com)