Brazil Court Orders YouTube to Remove Anti-Islam Film
A Brazilian court on September 25 banned an online anti-Islam movie that spawned violent protests across the Muslim world and gave YouTube 10 days to pull the film's trailer from its website.
The decision by a state court in Sao Paulo, home to a large Middle Eastern immigrant community, came hours after Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff criticized "Islamophobia" in Western countries in a speech at the United Nations.
The lawsuit against the controversial film was brought by a Brazilian Muslim group, the National Islamic Union, against YouTube owner Google Inc for posting on the Internet a film it said was offensive and a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion.
In his decision, Judge Gilson Delgado Miranda said the case juxtaposed freedom of expression and the need to protect individuals or groups of people from action that might incite religious discrimination.
Miranda concluded that banning something illegal should not "offend" freedom of thought and expression, according to the ruling posted online by Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.
The legal challenge underlines broader questions about Google's responsibility for content uploaded by third parties to its websites, such as the anti-Islam video, which mocked the Prophet Muhammad and sparked a wave of protests in the Muslim world.
By Sadroddin Musawi
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