Google could not be immediately reached for comment, but the company confirmed to the BBC that Coelho was released.
On Tuesday, a Brazilian court ruled that a YouTube video about a mayoral candidate violated election laws that prohibit disparaging personal remarks about candidates in an election. The order called for Coelho’s arrest, as well as s 24-hour blackout of Google and YouTube in Brazil.
In a statement Wednesday to The Washington Post, Google said it will appeal the decision.
Google has argued in the past that it is not responsible for content hosted on its YouTube video service. In cases of reported copyright infringement — Google has reacted to government requests to take videos down. But the company has also affirmed strong support for free speech, and has stuck closely to its community guideline requirements when deciding whether or not to remove videos.
Google and YouTube have blocked access to videos in certain countries, even when it could be argued they adhere to community guidelines, in exceptional circumstances. For example, YouTube did block access in Libya and Egypt to a preview of an anti-Muslim video clip that sparked protests across the Middle East — and after the White House asked the company to review the clip. In that case, although the clip was “clearly within our guidelines,” the company said, it believed the “very difficult situation” warranted the restriction.
Related stories:
Brazilian court orders arrest of Google official over YouTube video
Google’s restricting of anti-Muslim video shows role of Web firms as free-speech arbiters
Court in Sao Paulo orders YouTube to take down anti-Islam film or face $5,000 a day fine
Judge denies actress’ request to take down YouTube clip for anti-Muslim film blamed for deaths
No comments:
Post a Comment