Conversationblog

La Derniere Heure, a Belgian newspaper reported on January 24 that the Front National, a far right nationalist party in France, has found a new political playground in Second Life.

With the French presidential elections in full swing, and with Hillary Clinton giving a clear sign that the next US elections will (also) be influenced by the web, it is clear that every political party will at a certain point in time have a headquarter in one or the other virtual world.

The Front National (FN) claims to be the first French and European political party to have a presence on Second Life. Although some people might find it shocking that an extreme right party uses the web in this way, there's nothing illegal here.

The editor of the Second Life Herald said the following:

It would be impossible to keep such organisations out of Second Life [...] For Linden Lab to ban the FN party they would have to demonstrate that they are clearly racist. (own translation from the French text)

Well, both Le Pen, the head of the party and some of its members have been condemned in court because they made negationist comments about the holocaust. But I guess that doesn't count in a virtual world.

The community standards of Second Life are pretty clear when it comes to intolerance:

"The use of derogatory or demeaning language or images in reference to another Resident's race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is never allowed in Second Life." (from their website)

How will anti-racist organisations react ? Do the same, set up a presence in Second Life and take the political battle online ? Does this mean that what is considered as condemnable by law in the real world is not in a virtual one ?

Technorati : FN, extreme richt, front national, hillary clinton, linden lab, negationism, politics, second life, second life herald
Ice Rocket : FN, extreme richt, front national, hillary clinton, linden lab, negationism, politics, second life, second life herald