Anti-Bermudian remarks that were posted on the Bermuda.com website have been deleted says the owner of the site, Tony Brannon.

Yesterday the The Royal Gazette reported that a series of anti-Bermudian sentiments posted on the general discussion forum of the site caused serious concern for some locals who visited the site.

Anyone visiting the site early Tuesday afternoon could witness remarks made by pseudo named users "Henry" and "Law and Order" calling Bermudians "racist and lazy" and that "black folk are violent and that is why only violence can control them - SA80 patrol is necessary to shoot to kill and don't miss."

The messages continued: "A Bermuda-wannabe? I would NEVER wish to degrade myself so far as to be considered Bermudian. Why would anyone (other than a tourist who has been fed the "paradise myth") want to be considered a Bermudian?"

The concern arose, said Internet users, not only because the Bermudians visiting the site found it offensive, but also because the site can be seen around the world and may send a negative message to potential visitors.

After Mr. Brannon was notified of the negative message postings a statement was issued late Tuesday evening on the site that read: "Bermuda.com will not tolerate any racist vigilantes. We must therefore ask Law & Order to stop posting in these forums. Any such postings will be deleted.

"Whilst we encourage free speech, we do request that opinions regarding Bermuda or issues of the day be debated in an intelligent non-inflammatory way. Remember many many thousands of potential visitors walk through Bermuda.com and the forums, so we would appreciate everyone toning it down."

The post was signed, "Admin."

When contacted yesterday, Mr. Brannon defended his site and told The Royal Gazette the remarks and opinions posted reflect the fact that Bermuda is not the ideal society that it is being portrayed to be.

He added his frustration that various radio talks shows in Bermuda allow more anti-Bermudian and racist remarks to be aired than his web-site.

"That's life in Bermuda today", he said. "I do not agree with what was posted, but this is a forum of freedom of speech. The Bermuda.com website is representing Bermuda to the rest of the world to the best of its ability. And we'll do our utmost to make sure that they don't stay up that long. I don't watch the forums 24 hours a day, but Bermuda.com is a forum that is monitored and edited. We allow interaction from the general public and that is a great thing to have for people of this country."

But one Bermudian site visitor who expressed concern on the matter said: "All the talk show stuff is nonsense, that's ancillary. That's not relative to the current situation. When it comes to Bermuda talk shows, that's something that is here in Bermuda. But Bermuda.com is a world-wide forum.

"The first thing you do if you are someone that wants to visit Bermuda is to type in Bermuda.com. I suggest that he keeps a close eye on what is permitted to be posted on the message boards of Bermuda.com. It damages the image of the Island - all you need is one person to see it and they tell another and so on.

"The fact that he took it down after the comments were made are not good enough. I don't have a problem with airing dirty laundry, but the comments were racist. I am in full support of free speech, but if the site is going to carry the Bermuda name, you must take responsibility for its content."