Brussels, 18/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - MEPs Glyn Ford (PES, UK), Bernd Posselt (EPP-ED, Germany), Claude Moraes (PES, UK), Feleknas Uca (GUE/NGL, Germany) and Viktoria Mohacsi (ALDE, Hungary) are to present a written declaration on Monday 23 April against the apology for racism to be found on the internet. The declaration is supported by the European Parliament Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup. A press conference was organised on Tuesday 17 April to present the broad lines of the declaration. During the press conference, Mr Posselt conceded that the possibility of “legal initiatives” was limited, saying he hoped a public campaign would be launched in Europe “rallying families and the educational system” in order to gain “public support”. “An apology in defence of racism is banned on paper, so why should it be allowed in the electronic media?” asked Mr Ford. The declaration sets out four points for reflection: 1) condemnation of all forms of racism on the internet; 2) inclusion of specific clauses in contracts between internet access providers and users, with Mr Moraes calling on access providers to “take more responsibility”; 3) the inclusion by the European Commission of specific action through the intermediary of its Safer Internet Plus Programme, and the taking into account of other international practices, mainly American; and 4) the need for member states, that have not yet done so, to sign and ratify the additional protocol of the Council of Europe convention on cybercrime, concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic kind. We would point out that, in order to become a declaration of the European Parliament, the declaration must bear the signatures of a majority of the members that make up the EP. It is then forwarded to the institutions concerned, in this case the Council, the Commission and member state governments. (gc)