Google Refuses to Remove Anti-Muslim YouTube Video

Google Refuses to Remove Anti-Muslim YouTube Video

September 15, 2012 by Samantha Murphy

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White House officials on Friday asked YouTube to review an anti-Muslim video cited as fueling violent protests worldwide, but according to The New York Times, the Google-owned site doesn't have any intention of taking it down.

Google told the publication that the "Innocence of Muslims" video does not violate terms of service for YouTube regarding hate speech because it is focused on the Muslim religion and not the people who practice it. Although Google put up a temporary block on the clip in Egypt and Libya due to local violations in those countries, it still remains accessible to most worldwide.

SEE ALSO: 'Innocence of Muslims' YouTube Video Spurs Protests Across Mideast

The 14-minute video, which was a trailer for an upcoming "Innocence of Muslims" film thought to be created by an American man — upset the Muslim community for insulting the religion's Prophet Muhammad. (Note: Early reports pegged the filmmaker as "Sam Bacile," a supposedly Israeli-American real estate developer living in California. However, certain details didn't add up: There's no licensed real estate developer in California with that name and Israeli officials denied his existence.)

The video has also been credited as contributing to global protests, including the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, which resulted in the deaths of four U.S. citizens including a U.S. ambassador, and igniting other protests across the globe.

Google's decision to not comply with the White House's request is in line with a company policy from 2007 that said it would consider laws, local policies and culture when deciding whether to remove or restrict a video.

"One type of content, while legal everywhere, may be almost universally unacceptable in one region, yet viewed as perfectly fine in another," Rachel Whetstone, senior VP for communications and public policy at Google, said in the policy. "We are passionate about our users, so we try to take into account local cultures and needs."

YouTube's Community Guidelines "encourage free speech" and "defend everyone's right to express unpopular points of view." However, it does not allow "hate speech," which the company defines as "speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender identity."

The Obama administration initially "reached out to YouTube to call the video to their attention and ask them to review whether it violates their terms of use," Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council, told the Washington Post.

UPDATE: The original version of this story said it was believed that the filmmaker was an American-Israeli man, but it has since been updated to reflect that authorities now think a false identity was used.

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