18.8. A PostScript: Spam as Propaganda

Spam is hard to stop, which makes it a useful tool for spreading messages across the Internet. In December 2005, a neo-Nazi sympathizer reportedly created a variant of the Sober worm modified to send spam containing phrases like "Multicultural = multicriminal." The messages also included links to racist German websites and news articles that support anti-immigrant views.

One Chinese dissident group that publishes a newsletter called VIP Reference (www.bignews.org) has found another use for spam. Because Chinese citizens can't access certain websites without fear of government retribution, VIP Reference floods Chinese computers with spam containing its pro-democracy newsletter. Now Chinese citizens can read censored information without being guilty of soliciting it themselves. So the next time you're cursing the spam flooding your email account, it might comfort you to think about how spam is helping Chinese citizens read censored information. Maybe spam could become less of a dirty word if it were used to promote ideas like democracy and freedom, instead of Viagra and pornography.