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Senator Wants YouTube to Censor Terrorist Groups and Sympathizers

by Terrence O'Brien on May 21, 2008 at 10:14 AM

Senator Wants YouTube to Censor Terrorist Groups and Sympathizers
You might remember Joseph Lieberman as Al Gore's running mate in 2000. Somewhere along the way though, the former Democrat and current Senator from Connecticut went from slightly overbearing to fascist as he took on video games and television.

After being a vocal critic of the ultra violent 'Manhunt 2' and trying to push through numerous bills regarding video game ratings and violence in games Lieberman has set his sights online. The New England crank sent a letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt requesting the company remove content posted to YouTube by Al Qaeda, other Islamic terrorist organizations, and their sympathizers. According to Lieberman,Al-Qaeda uses the Internet as an integral part of its recruitment system and Google has an obligation to disrupt it.

Google's response was tepid, and perhaps a little dismissive. On its Public Policy blog, Google responded to the Senator's letter thanking him for his concern but stating that they would not be removing the majority of the videos identified by Senator Lieberman and his staff because they did not violate the company's terms of service. Google removed any videos that contained hate speech or acts of violence, but said "YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view. We believe that YouTube is a richer and more relevant platform for users precisely because it hosts a diverse range of views, and rather than stifle debate we allow our users to view all acceptable content and make up their own minds."

This likely isn't the last we've heard from the Senator from Connecticut, though his goals will likely go unattained. Beyond the legal and constitutional issues involved with censoring any content, the practicality of screening the hundreds of thousands of videos posted to YouTube daily make this a losing a battle for Senator Lieberman. [Source: Senate.gov and Google Public Policy]

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