After Google cut-off a Gmail account created by PVV leader Geert Wilders for his anti-Islam bumper sticker project, the politician registered a domain with Danish webhost One.com and used it to create a new email address for distributing the stickers. The hosting company says they do not have plans to follow Google’s lead and shut down the account for offensive content, a company executive said.
“I have been looking into it this morning, and I know it is a project causing a lot of debate in the Netherlands,” said Thomas Darré Medard Frederiksen, Chief Operating Officer of One.com. “I will keep an eye on it.”
Wilders previously announced that he was using a Gmail address to give away bumper stickers that look like the flag of Saudi Arabia, with words in Arabic that read, “Islam is a lie. Mohammed is a crook. The Quran is poison.”
In response, former politician Mohamed Rabbae filed a complaint with Google on behalf of the National Council of Moroccans, claiming abuse of the Gmail service. Google shuttered the Gmail account without confirming the complaint as the reason for its action.
One.com is not planning on taking similar action, although a clause in their terms of agreement forbids customers from using servers for offensive material. ”We don’t have any plans to take any steps to shut down the webspace,” Frederiksen said. “In general, I can say we will never go in and make those judgments; it must be up to a court to judge in a case like this, and we always act according to a court-order.”
When asked if One.com enforces the clause about offensive material, Frederiksen replied, “No, we don’t. It is really important for us not to take sides on what is legal and what is not, and what material is offensive or not.” He also said that customer privacy and the ability to have access to publishing material online is extremely important to his company.
Days before Tweeting about the sticker, Wilders had told the BBC that he is not a troublemaker, saying, “A responsible politician, I believe, never stirs up any problems in any society.”