Certain videos on YouTube revealing police brutality have been asked to be taken down by the US law enforcement agency. Two requests have been made to Google, but both have been turned down; they’re going to remain on YouTube. However, out of about 90 previously submitted requests (submitted by different authorities in America) 73% were accepted and censored by Google. Criticisms against Google and the authorities have surfaced. They argue that the United States is basically attempting to censor the people and that the authorities are violating the people’s right to freedom of the media. Critics also say that Google shouldn’t have the ability to simply censor information; they believe that YouTube is a public platform and that neither the government nor Google should be able to block out whatever they please. Google has stated that the volume of requests for content censoring (asked by government authorities) has risen, and so has the volume of requests for removing private information (asked by Google users). This is understandable because of the “Occupy” protests.
Key Stakeholders:
- Government – Certain videos clearly showing police brutality will continue to stay on YouTube. This will most likely defame the police department, as well as government authority.
- Google – Was asked by government authority to censor some videos. Google has accepted some of their requests in the past, but their most recent ones have been rejected.
- People of the state – Their opinion on the government are likely to be affected. A lot of people won’t like that the government is trying to censor this kind of information and media.
My Reflection:
I think it’s wrong that the government is trying to censor media like this. The United States is supposed to be a democratic country, not a police state; the government is violating the people’s right to freedom of the media. In the article, it has been suggested that government requests for content removal should be backed with a court order. I believe this method would be more fair and just, as opposed to the government attempting to remove any information that they’re dissatisfied with.
Questions:
- If you were in charge of Google, would you remove these police brutality videos? Why?
- Do you think it’s fair that the U.S. government can attempt to censor information like this?
- Why do you think the U.S. government wants to remove videos like this?
