YouTube to censor German hate sites
p2pnet news | Politics:- Google’s YouTube is to start censoring German hate sites.
The move was sparked by the appearance of “far right” videos and movies, says Heise Online, which quotes Google spokesperson Kay Oberbeck telling stern.de:
It is clear that YouTube has a substantial interest in removing illegal or inflammatory videos from the site. We distance ourselves categorically from inflammatory content on YouTube. Such content is illegal and in breach of YouTube guidelines.
Until recently the Nazi propaganda film “Jud Süß” was easy to find on YouTube, says Heise, continuing, “It is also easy to find songs by the far right band Landser – many are superimposed on photos of Hitler, swastikas or SS runes.
“Lyrics such as ‘We will wear the swastika with pride’ and ‘Our model is the Waffen SS’ are still relatively harmless compared to many other racist or anti-Semitic lyrics or lyrics which glorify violence.”
Messages shown during the videos lead to sites such as racist organisations banned in Germany.
“The Telemediengesetz (the German law regulating telephone and media services) requires service providers to remove web pages containing propaganda which is inflammatory or in breach of the constitution from the internet immediately once informed of it,” adds the story.
“The Central Council of Jews in Germany is considering making a formal complaint to the police against Google as a result of the far right content on YouTube. German politicians are demanding that the public prosecution service investigate the incidents.”
Last summer Polish police working with the FBI shut down the Polish wing of Blood and Honour, a hate site mentioned in the Heise post.
It was based on a server in Arizona and the FBI charged a man thought to have been running it.
The site, “urged its followers to collect information about ‘persons engaged in anti-fascist and anti-racist activities, on coloured immigrants, on left-wing activists and sympathisers and on the homosexual and paedophile lobby”,” said the BBC at the time.
Also See:
Heise Online – Google intends to speed up removal of far right content from YouTube, August 31, 2007
Blood and Honour – Polish hate site taken down, July 7, 2006
BBC – Poland shuts down neo-Nazi site, July 6, 2006
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September 3rd, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Go here as well —
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/personal_tech/article2368172.ece
September 9th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
This complaint can be accepted providing the Jewish Council recognise the crimes their race in Israel have committed against the Palestinian people since they occupied their land.
However this will probably be a one sided debate as usual, but if you believe in democracy there has to be equal status for all people if not, then it would be as well for you to remain silent.
November 13th, 2008 at 11:26 am
This is ridiculous, when thousands of hateful rap songs glorifying senseless violence, drug use and sexual abuse, not to mention all the gang fights posted on the site still litter Youtube. If Youtube wants to “take out the trash” starting with Landser etc. they had better do it big and wipe out the OTHER site of the fight as well, otherwise we can all assume that they are prejudiced and unequalizing the spectrum.
THIS is equality. If we can’t post our “violent and hateful” beliefs on Youtube, niether should anyone else.