What does Google have in common with punk rock and video games? Google joins music and video games as targets of Senator Joe Lieberman. Sen. Lieberman believes Google is playing host to “terrorists” by allowing al-Qaeda videos to remain on YouTube, saying that they are in direction violation of YouTube’s terms of service. Google defends its decision to leave the videos up by claiming that they are valuable articles of information.
On the one hand Google has a strike against it: Google has been accused of helping China censor what the people read. On the other hand Google is attempting to invoke the Constitution. Maligned as Google might be for working with China’s repressive regime we have to keep in mind China is not America. America has stated rights and freedoms.
Here in America we still live with the shadow of McCarthyism and the Red Scare, so it is with some validation that Google attempts to defend itself. Sadly, Google is put in the position because it is such a massive communication medium. The case should be interesting to follow since it will have much wider implications for other parts of the so called “Internet 2.0” that put content choice in the hands of users.
Read more about: Lieberman vs. music Lieberman vs. Video Games Questionable Google Googles Response
