Not because the video meets the company’s definition of hate speech, reports the New York Times, but because the company wants to help quell the violence in those two countries.

Google’s action raises fundamental questions about the control that Internet companies have over online expression. Should the companies themselves decide what standards govern what is seen on the Internet? How consistently should these policies be applied?

“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.”

Eli Sanders is The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won this,...

3 replies on “Google Blocks Anti-Islam Video in Libya and Egypt”

  1. Freedom of speech does not require publishers to publish your speech. Freedom of the press is a right of publishers. You may be the speaker, but YouTube is the publisher, as is the Merc.

  2. This “Anti-Islam Video” is a red herring. These people are pissed off because they have fucked up nations and shit for quality of life. While the western world flaunts its wealth and political dominance.

    I’d want to throw us the bird too.

    Or maybe “They hate our freedoms”

    yeah, that’s it.

  3. You folks think people in other countries shouldn’t have access to other points of view, even fucked up points of view such as this video? How paternalistic of you. Thanks for shielding the rest of the world from any possible cognitive dissonance.

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