By Editor Bob Terry
Media giant Google is being lauded for its efforts to preserve free speech and to oppose censorship in the face of deadly protests and government pressures. The notorious YouTube video “Innocence of Muslims” sparked deadly protests in a number of countries. More than 20 people have died in rioting related to the video, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other U.S. officials.
Russia threatened to close down YouTube in that country if the offending video was not removed. In the U.S., the Obama administration did not explicitly ask YouTube to remove the video but it did ask the company to double-check to see if the video met the company’s standards to remain available.
In the face of such pressure a YouTube spokesperson said, “We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions.” The spokesperson went on to explain that YouTube’s owner Google will remove content that is shown to violate local laws but stressed that the company strives to maintain a balance between free speech and censorship.
In the U.S. the right to free speech is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As Christians we believe free speech, including religious speech, is a right given by God. It is a cherished right. Most Christians applaud Google’s efforts to uphold free speech and to resist censorship. Unfortunately Google and other giant media companies have not been as committed to free speech and to resisting censorship when it comes to moral and ethical issues related to traditional Christian values.
For example, YouTube and Google have a history of censoring pro-life messages. In 2008 YouTube took down a pro-life video posted by Catholic News Agency. The video was an interview. It was not pornographic, did not show animal abuse or graphic violence — all things that YouTube does not permit.
But under pressure from abortion advocates the media giant chose not to “allow people to express different opinions,” as the company is doing with the “Innocence of Muslims” video. Instead, where the pro-life video once appeared was a blank screen with the words “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.”
Catholic News Agency senior editor David Uebbing said it was frustrating that YouTube removed a factual video without any explanation.
The next year YouTube took down a five-minute video titled “Requiem for the Disappeared.” It depicted a Catholic funeral and burial ceremonies for 23 unborn fetuses found dumped in trash bins behind abortion clinics in Michigan. Again no free speech. Again censorship from YouTube.
In 2010 YouTube and Google would not even put up the Tim Tebow pro-life commercial aired in connection with the Super Bowl in its Ad Blitz campaign to determine the most popular Super Bowl commercial.
One can only wonder why the company is fighting so hard for free speech for the “Innocence of Muslims” video while it fails to uphold that same value in relationship to pro-life issues.
Google is not the only media giant trying to prevent free speech and impose censorship on messages about traditional Christian values. In 2010 Apple, owner of iTunes, removed an application for iPhones and iPads that allowed one to download the Manhattan Declaration — an important statement by Christian leaders from a variety of denominations that defended traditional marriage, the sanctity of human life and religious liberty. The declaration was written in civil, non-inflammatory and respectful language.
Originally Apple accepted the app for download and rated it 4+, meaning it contained no objectionable material. But after a gay-activist group using the online petition-hosting service Change.org gathered 7,000 signatures for a petition claiming the application promoted bigotry and homophobia, iTunes dropped the app.
According to an article in MacWorld, “Apple is known to be a defender of gay rights.” The company donated $100,000 to oppose Proposition 8, a California proposition that ultimately banned gay “marriage” in that state. Whether that influenced the company’s decision will never be known. What is known is that more than 500,000 people signed the Manhattan Declaration, but Apple still chose to side with censorship and to curtail free speech by deleting the app.
More recently Facebook joined the media companies trying to limit free speech supporting traditional Christian values. On July 24, Facebook shut down the Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day page launched by former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Huckabee said he felt Chick-Fil-A owner Dan Cathy was getting a raw deal because he supported traditional marriage. No one seemed to care that the company had never discriminated in its hiring practices or against those it served. Huckabee attempted to rally support for the beleaguered company.
Public pressure
But Facebook made the page mysteriously disappear. Twelve hours later the page just as mysteriously reappeared when Facebook decided the public pressure was too great. The incident once again demonstrated the control giant media companies attempt to exercise over messages related to traditional Christian values. It is reaching to say their record shows they are committed to free speech, to enabling people to express different opinions and to resisting censorship when the companies repeatedly block messages related to traditional Christian values.
Defenders of the media giants argue the companies have free speech rights, too, and can block any message they choose. True, but if that is the case then it is hypocrisy for Google to claim it supports free speech in cases like “Innocence of Muslims.” The company should admit it is crass commercialism driving its decisions. It wants to get more traffic to its sites in order to sell more ads.
If companies like Google, Apple and Facebook really want to defend free speech and oppose censorship then they will accept the invitation issued Sept. 12 by the National Religious Broadcasters to join in a Free Speech Charter for the Internet.
The proposal calls on the media giants to voluntarily abide by the First Amendment’s free speech requirements and fulfill their role as gatekeepers to new web-based communications platforms rather than censors.
We hope the companies are listening. There should not be different standards for messages related to traditional Christian values. To read more about the free speech charter, visit nrb.org.
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