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18 September 2012| last updated at 12:40AM

YouTube under fire

By ALINA SIMON AND YISWAREE PALANSAMY

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INSENSITIVE: rais criticises google for not removing anti-islam movie clip from listing altogether

KUALA LUMPUR: GOOGLE Malaysia has blocked access to the anti-Islam movie clip that insulted Prophet Muhammad and Islam.

A local YouTube spokesman said the 13-minute trailer on Innocence of Muslims, a low-budget American movie allegedly produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a Coptic Christian, was blocked following complaints by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

“We have clear community guidelines and when videos breach those rules, we remove them,” he said in an email statement to the New Straits Times yesterday.

He said when Google, which owned the popular online video-sharing site, was notified that a video was illegal in a particular country, access to it would be restricted after a thorough review.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim described YouTube as being insensitive to the anguish of Muslims the world over by not removing the film clip from its listing altogether.

Raissaidfreespeechdidnotincludecausing or creating hatred among Muslims against those who debase their religion.

Given the widespread protests in the Islamic world, he said, YouTube had every reason to remove the anti-Islam film from its listing.

“YouTube appears to be oblivious to the tumult it has caused. The owner of YouTube  does not deserve to be spared the ire of Muslims or the long arm of the law," he told Bernama.

Rais said the public prosecutor had every right under the Penal Code to book quarters who caused disharmony, disunity or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will on grounds of religion between groups of persons.

He said the powers of the authorities under the Communications and Multimedia Act (MCMC) could also be invoked.

MCMC was reported to have asked Google on Saturday to remove the movie clip.

Google has also banned access of the film in Libya, Indonesia, Egypt and India but refused to take it down, citing that it was widely available on the web.

The film, initially titled Innocence of Bin Laden, was reportedly shown only once to a small audience at a rented theatre in Hollywood, but the clip was uploaded to YouTube with the titles The Real Life of Muhammad and Muhammad Movie Trailer last month.

Muslims protesting against an anti-Islam film in Marawi City in Mindanao, the Philippines, yesterday. The movie, ‘Innocence of Muslims’, has sparked fury across the Islamic world for mocking Prophet Muhammad. AFP pic

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