Som eier av youtube er det Google som i praksis er gatekeeper for ytringsfriheten. Torsdag bestemte Google seg for å lukke tilgang til videoen fra Libya og Egypt. Men for resten av verden er den åpen.
Det interessante her er at Google mener vidoen er tillatt innenfor deres retningslinjer. Den fornærmer ikke mennesker, men en religion. Ifølge Google er ikke videoen hatespeech/hatefull ytring.
Its policy is to remove content only if it is hate speech, violating its terms of service, or if it is responding to valid court orders or government requests. And it said it had determined that under its own guidelines, the video was not hate speech
Under YouTube’s terms of service, hate speech is speech against individuals, not against groups. Because the video mocks Islam but not Muslim people, it has been allowed to stay on the site in most of the world, the company said Thursday.
“This video — which is widely available on the Web — is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube,” it said. “However, given the very difficult situation in Libya and Egypt we have temporarily restricted access in both countries.”
Som verdens største søkemotor og eier av youtube er det i realiteten Google som er ytringsfrihetens portvokter. I dette tilfellet har man forsvart videoen generelt, men lukket den for de to land hvor liv har eller kan gå tapt.
Det er en pragmatisk løsning, hvor to hensyn er avveiet mot hverandre.
“Google is the world’s gatekeeper for information so if Google wants to define the First Amendment to exclude this sort of material then there’s not a lot the rest of the world can do about it,” said Peter Spiro, a constitutional and international law professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. “It makes this episode an even more significant one if Google broadens the block.”
He added, though, that “provisionally,” he thought Google made the right call. “Anything that helps calm the situation, I think is for the better.”
Google vil forhindre at flere liv går tapt eller skades, men ønsker på den andre siden ikke at trusler om vold skal kunne bestemme ytringsfrihetens grenser.
As Violence Spreads in Arab World, Google Blocks Access to Inflammatory Video
