By John Bicknell, CQ Staff
Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman is claiming victory in his effort to persuade Google to crack down on violent Islamist videos posted on YouTube.
The Connecticut independent senator said in a statement Thursday that new YouTube guidelines bar videos that incite people to violence.
Lieberman spokeswoman Leslie Phillips said the new prohibition brings "Islamist terrorist videos produced to encourage followers to support terrorist activities or commit acts of terrorism themselves" under the YouTube Community Guidelines.
"Before, the Community Guidelines just prohibited instructional videos on tactics like 'bomb making' or 'gratuitous violence,'" Phillips said. "With these expanded guidelines, Google has announced that it will remove YouTube videos designed to encourage and inspire others to commit violent acts, including acts of terrorism, whether abroad or here at home."
In tips accompanying the guidelines, Google also added language that specifically bars the posting of "videos on things like instructional bomb making . . . sniper attacks, [and] videos that train terrorists." But the tips also include a potential loophole: "Any depictions like these should be educational or documentary and shouldn't be designed to help or encourage others to imitate them."
Lieberman had written to Google CEO Eric Schmidt in May, complaining about the presence of videos produced by al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
At that time, Google took down some of the videos that inspired Lieberman's letter, but not others, saying in a blog post that "While we respect and understand [Lieberman's] views, YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view."
Before sending the letter, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee had released a report that described how violent Islamist extremists use the Internet as a tool for radicalization and recruitment.
John Bicknell can be reached at jbicknell@cq.com.
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