Google Brushes off Lieberman's Request to Remove Terrorist Content

Mon, May 19, 2008 at 5:18:05 pm PDT

Senator Joe Lieberman sent a letter to Google/YouTube asking them to remove the video content that’s been posted at YouTube by terrorist groups and their supporters, and Google told Lieberman to take a hike.

It’s no joke; this kind of highly disturbing radical Islamic content is easy to find all over YouTube, and it’s clear that several terrorist groups feel safe about posting pretty much anything they want, up to and including videos that show murders and terrorist attacks. But at CNET, they scoff at the problem (and Lieberman): So now Eric Schmidt is an al-Qaida fellow traveler? | Coop’s Corner : A Blog from Charlie Cooper - CNET News.com.

Of course, Google’s refusal to play ball may get it featured as a candidate for Bill O’Reilly’s Talking Point segment, but management’s entirely right to stick by its principles. Lieberman’s gone hunting with a blunderbuss, lumping violent and hateful content together with unpopular points of view. In this instance, Google did no evil.

I know we’re about to get into the thick of the political silly season, but no less than a veteran U.S. Senator should take a look at the United States Constitution now and then. It’s one heck of a document. Really.

(Hat tip: Jawa Report.)