Back in May, YouTube and its parent, Google, came under fire from Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) for allegedly harboring videos produced by Al Qaeda. On Wednesday, YouTube took a step to address these concerns, modifying its community guidelines to prohibit the posting of content that incites violence. Although Lieberman applauded the move, the fine line between violent content and news and proliferation of Internet video sites suggest that the whole exchange has more to do with PR than the fight against terrorism.
YouTube rebuffs senator's demands to remove Islamist videos

Lieberman's initial complaint focused on the presence of the Al Qaeda logo on "dozens" of videos found on YouTube. His open letter to Google Chairman Eric Schmidt charged that, "Islamist terrorist organizations use YouTube to disseminate their propaganda, enlist followers, and provide weapons training." Lieberman highlighted the community guidelines of YouTube, which prohibit "gratuitous violence," in calling for the removal of any videos produced by terrorist organizations. Some videos identified by Lieberman's staff were removed, but not all of them violated YouTube's standards, and so many remained.

Full story: arstechnica.com 

Labels: terrorists, video, youtube