IsayUsaySsay

Name   : Eveline Lubbers
Time   : 15.00-16.00 (Balie Salon)
Subject: Scientology and Internet
Date   : Friday 19 January 1996

Brief presentation of the case: How the terror of the Church of Scientology against opponents in general became an Internet discussion, about freedom of speech and the role of providers. Then again, the campaign against the Scientologycase showed that abattle on and about the Net, cannot be fought without the traditional stages of wild postering of the challenged texts, a protestmeeting in a sixties environment, a case in court with the help of a laywer who was a terrorist defender in the seventies and covering in reallife papers.

The fight against Scientology brought unexpected coalitions, of people that never did anything together before. A liberal member of parliament, Internetfreaks, former hackers and a popular television presentator to begin with.

Will this coalition survive? Would the same people get together to defend the publishing of the extreme left magazine Radikal? Radikal found, tired of being procecuted at home, a virtual publisher at xs4all.nl.

In short the aim of this presentation would be to explore the boundaries of Internet in a campaign for the freedom of speech. And to evaluate the merites of Internet as a tool in campaigning against (for instance) an objectional sect. And the flexibility of new media in coaxing like-minded people into a -temporary- pact.

Eveline Lubbers