Why Google Shouldn't Have Censored The Anti-Islamic Video

Eva Galperin's article mainly concerns the freedom of speech on the internet as well as on videos particularly in YouTube. What Google did was that they blocked access to a video showing clips from a video titled "The Innocence of the Muslims" which was a religiously sensitive video which started violent protest in Libya and Egypt. Normally Google or YouTube will not censor its content until it breaches the policy or Term of Service but in this case there was another party involved, The White House. The White House gave Google a phone call asking them to ensure that the video is not blocked but instead censored in the two countries. This gave Google a very uncomfortable time which at first did not block the video but after unfortunate and violent events they were left with no choice but to remove the video.

The issue that is going to be discussed in this post is the public sphere of democracy on the internet.Generally what the internet does is that it allows anyone to post anything to share what they have got to say or think as it is an open medium for opinion rather than a place where is filled with rules and without freedom of speech. The "magic" of the Internet is that it is a technology that puts cultural acts, symbolizations in all forms, in the hands of all participants; it radically decentralizes the positions of speech, publishing, filmmaking, radio and television broadcasting, in short the apparatuses of cultural production (Poster M, 1995). What i personally believe is that on the internet, everyone should be entitled to see whatever is on it. I believe that if I am able to read or watch a video of something, someone else in another country also should despite what the content is.

In conclusion, the world is not perfect as there will always be corruption no matter where we are.That is why the internet thus directs our attention to such classic democratic issues as freedom of speech, access, and the dynamic of inclusion/exclusion (Dahlgren P, 2005).

References

Poster, M. (1995). CyberDemocracy: Internet and the Public Sphere. In: Poster, M and Byrne, D I am an advertisement for a version of myself. California: Mark Poste

Dahlgren, P. (2005). The Internet, Public Spheres, and Political Communication: Dispersion and Deliberation. Political Communication. 1 (22), 147-162.