Protesters gathered outside Google UK’s London headquarters yesterday to protest against The Innocence of Muslims clip which remains on YouTube despite violence and outrage around the world.
The 13 minute short extract from an offensive and laughably low budget film remains on YouTube, which was bought by Google in 2006.
“This is not freedom of expression; there is a limit for that. This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed. Until it is banned we will keep protesting.” said protest organiser Masoud Alam, who is planning another large scale protest in Hyde Park.
Met Police believe the number of protesters was around 3,000 – although the Muslim Action Forum has claimed there were 10,000 protesters at the event. There were no arrests.
Khalid Mahmood, a 38-year old man who had travelled from Coventry to protest told The Daily Telegraph “We can no longer just stand by, shrug our shoulders and be hurt every day. We are doing this on behalf of everyone. It is the final straw. It is unacceptable.”
YouTube have refused to back down and have released an official statement, which reads “We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions.
“This can be a challenge because what’s OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere. This video – which is widely available on the Web – is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube.”
Private Eye revealed in a recent issue that there are actually only ten people in the world who have seen the full version of the film at its only screening in the USA. Protests against the film have been held in 28 countries and have resulted in deaths of US embassy staff.
