Court Orders YouTube to Yank Anti-Muslim Video

Federal appeals panel sides with actress in 'Innocence of Muslims'
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 26, 2014 5:48 PM CST
Court Orders YouTube to Yank Anti-Muslim Video
Cindy Lee Garcia, one of the actresses in "Innocence of Muslims," in a 2012 photo.   (AP Photo/Jason Redmond, File)

The anti-Muslim video that set off worldwide protests in 2012 can no longer be seen on YouTube. A federal appeals court today ordered Google to take down Innocence of Muslims, reports the San Jose Mercury News. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to back the request made by actress Cindy Lee Garcia, who says she got duped by the filmmaker. She agreed to make a desert action flick, only to learn later that a clip from that movie was inserted into the anti-Muslim screed, reports NBC News. At one point in Innocence, a voice dubbed over hers suggests that Mohammed is a child molester.

Google vows to fight the decision on First Amendment grounds, and the first step will likely be a request that the full 11-judge panel of the 9th Circuit rehear the case. At the Washington Post, legal blogger Eugene Volokh thinks Google has a shot under a "fair use" defense. "The entire video ought to remain available to those who want to get a full understanding of the controversy, and the fair use doctrine ought to be a mechanism for doing that," he writes. (More Google stories.)

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