Though some countries can no longer see the video, the
Obama Administration asked YouTube to review the video and decide if the video
should completely be taken down. YouTube ultimately decided that the video did
not violate any of its Community Guidelines. In the past, YouTube
has blocked a series of videos in order
to prevent violence, for example, videos of rioting in northeast India were
removed at the request of officials.
YouTube's community guidelines
say:
"We encourage free speech and defend everyone's right to
express unpopular points of view. But we don't permit hate speech (speech which
attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion,
disability, gender, age, veteran status, and sexual orientation/gender
identity)."
I watched the extended trailer of the video, in hopes of
being able to tell you all about it instead of making you all watch it. It
might be one of the most poorly filmed and confusing videos I have ever seen
(though admittedly, there was a pretty funny gay joke in there.) I'm not even Muslim,
and I found it pretty offensive. Definitely 14 minutes of my life that I'll
never be able to have back.
Do you think that a video mocking and disrespecting
Islam should be against the Community Guidelines and taken down? Or is this one
of those "I'm covered by the First Amendment" moments? Is it ok to
perpetuate Islamaphobia if it's in an art form?
11 comments:
It seems to me that such a video should count as "hate speech" and be against the guidelines. However, I don't see much use of removing it now, after so many people have already seen it, and most likely it's already been extremely widely viewed among the communities that find it offensive. I also don't think YouTube should be too responsible for the content that is uploaded. There are many offensive videos everywhere, and as that one article said, there are too many videos for YouTube to monitor. It's not practical to be too picky and make YouTube remove each video that some people find offensive. It can remove something that is universally outrageous, but otherwise, individuals can choose not to watch it. Or, as is currently going on, local areas can choose to block it. I think that's a good idea.
As far as evidence has shown, this video is extremely provocative and no good will come from leaving it on YouTube. Though the First Amendment
is used to guarantee freedom of speech to citizens of the United States, the country also supports freedom of religion. Therefore, striking down one religion totally violates that age-old idea. Thomas Jefferson
would be disappointed in YouTube's actions. YouTube's actions imply that people should not support Islam by leaving it up.
I believe the Islam-phobic video would constitute as "hate speech" based on YouTube's code. Though some people might feel that there is no use in removing it because so many others have seen it, I feel that in light of current events YouTube should make an effort to remove such videos as it has done in the past. I feel leaving the video up opens the chance for more Islamists to be offended whenever they use YouTube. Therefore, I think it would be safer to take it off before it offends any more people, especially from the Middle East.
In response to the conflict between hate speech/freedom of religion and freedom of expression, I think situation like this, when one part of the constitution contradicts another, suggests that an amendment should be made to decide which clause, or which moral value/belief, is more important over another. I recognize that the founders deliberately left the constitution ambiguous so that it would stay relevant to the society as time progresses, but I think that for the parts of concerning things that are just totally morally wrong, such as shielding hate speech with the freedom of expression, should not be left ambiguous in the constitution.
I agree with Tina and Matthew on the fact that video is "hate speech," and I believe like Matthew that this video should be removed. Based on Sam's and other sites' description of the quality of the video, I don't think that this was intended to be an art form--so it appears to me that this video's purpose was hate mongering.
At the same time this post came out, I saw an interestingarticle on Kevin Drum's Mother Jones blog that was basically saying that the video was only adding fuel to a much larger fire of anti-Americanism. Furthermore, when I was listening to NPR on Thursday, All Things Considered was discussing the affects on The Innocence of Muslims on the protests in Egypt (one of the countries Youtube has banned the video in); in the report, a interviewed protester "hasn't seen the film [and] doesn't know who made it, but he wants the U.S. ambassador to leave and the filmmaker imprisoned" (transcript of Report). Even though many writers and people claim the video is the main cause of these protests, I don't think it is that simple to claim one isolated youtube video can create so much violence. I think the video was the spark needed to cause a major fire, but there are still many underlying causes of anti-Americanism the U.S. needs to address.
I agree with what others have been saying--the video does not seem to have been intended as "art" of any kind. It is not questioning anything in a constructive manner, either... it tears down, rather than criticizing to generate further thought. It should certainly be taken down, in my opinion, because although much of the harm has been done, no good could possibly come from allowing it to remain. Freedom of speech is a critical aspect of the USA, of course, but I feel that this "brand" of censorship would not undermine that.
I believe that the video should be taken down as well, but more importantly, I think it is critical for the U.S. to realize that Libya and Middle Eastern countries especially, have been turned upside-down due to improper/inappropriate involvement from Western forces. While there are many people who are grateful for America's attempts to bring about democracy, there are still probably many people who feel very frustrated about having to restructure their lives in ways they fundamentally may not agree with. Sadly, the publication of this movie opened doors for angry people to voice their discontent at the cost of the lives of others.
Being protected by the First Amendment or not, creating religion-bashing "art forms" or not, Americans in general need to become more culturally aware and treat their current relationships with other countries with more care.
First off, great post Sam. Definitely thought that this needed to be addressed, especially considering the status quo of American-Middle East relations.
I think it is important to recognize that this incident is by no stretch of the imagine the first or an even isolated instance of inflammatory anti-Islam material (thinking back to 2011 when Florida pastor Terry Jones threatened to burn a Koran and caused a stir). If anything, I do believe that it simply reflects a smoldering trend of hate that is in many ways simply nonconstructive and flat-out misguided. Considering the far reaching effects it had in terms of inadvertently causing the death of a number of US officials, we are left in a some-what awkward position to wag our fingers and remember from kindergarten that "words can hurt others."
Still, when I spoke with Jon Mays, he pointed out that the other half is also distributing derogatory, inflammatory material regarding the US, Israel, etc. That's not to say that the video was excusable or even okay. But his point did leave me wondering at the disproportionate response innocent Americans and even Germans (with NO affiliation with the video whatsoever) have had to endure.
While the First Amendment definitely protects this type of post on YouTube, it is something that definitely deserves to be restricted. If any type of media causes riots or endangers lives, it should definitely be censored. In my opinion, the video should be removed from YouTube since it is an example of hate speech. I am actually surprised that the government hasn't forced a removal of the video since it surely has angered at least some Muslims in America and could be categorized as harassment. Also, while I believe that any type of art form that is any type of "-phobic" is wrong, it is ultimately up to the people to decide what is considered a "hate crime" or not. If Americans have any negative thoughts about the video (I'm sure they do), they need to speak up if they want it to be removed. Otherwise, it will be online for a pretty long while.
I believe, like what many other people have already stated, that this video should not be taken down. I fully believe in the protection guaranteed under the first amendment, but whatever YouTube decides is completely within their power. There are plenty of seriously disturbing and hateful videos out there that don't even come close to this one because it's really in Nakoula's beliefs that this video is true. Just because we and many other people don't agree with it, doesn't mean we can just censor it like that. That being said, it's a poorly directed video with terrible editing, and this radical group of Muslims really need to calm themselves (if that's possible) over a poorly directed and low budgeted movie, because getting mad over this kind of movie shows a high level of immaturity low tolerance.
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