FOX News: Russia may block YouTube over anti-Islam film

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Russia may block YouTube over anti-Islam film Sep 18th 2012, 17:42 MOSCOW –  The Russian government is threatening to ban YouTube entirely unless the company takes down a controversial anti-Islamic film that has led to violent protests across the Muslim world.  Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov wrote on Twitter Tuesday that access to the online video sharing site will be blocked in Russia if its owner, Google, fails to abide by a court order banning the showing of the film that was produced in the U.S. and mocks Muslims and the prophet Muhammad. The low-budget movie, entitled "Innocence of Muslims," has angered followers of Islam for its mocking of the Prophet Mohammed, and for portraying Muslims as immoral and gratuitously violent, according to a report on AFP -- despite the fact that the only part of the film seen anywhere has been a brief trailer.  "When videos breach those rules, we remove them. Where we have launched YouTube locally and we are notified that a video is illegal in that country, we will restrict access to it after a thorough review," a spokesman for Google, which owns video site YouTube, told AFP on Monday. Google said last week that it would not block access to the YouTube video in the United States, however. The decision followed a White House request for the trailer for "Innocence of Muslims" to be reviewed under the company's policies. The Obama administration was not explicitly asking YouTube to remove the film, but to check if it meets their standards. "The White House asked YouTube to review the video to see if it was in compliance with their terms of use," Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Friday. The company determined that the video was within guidelines. "We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions," a Google spokeswoman said. "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.  However, we've restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia as well as in Libya and Egypt given the very sensitive situations in these two countries." Prosecutors have already asked a Moscow court to outlaw the "Innocence of Muslims" film as "extremist, and offending believers," and a verdict is expected soon, the Associated Press reported.  Russian authorities' moves reflect Kremlin fears that the film could foment unrest among Russian Muslims, AP said.

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