Legal News

Mannaggia La Miseria! Italy to Prosecute Google Execs Over Video

By Dan Slater

As Google continues its push for global domination of the Web, it faces censorship issues in foreign lands. Several countries, including China, Turkey, Pakistan and Thailand have at least temporarily blocked Google-owned YouTube over videos deemed sensitive or offensive. Now, let’s add Italy to the list.

According to the WSJ, Italian prosecutors are preparing to file charges in a Milan court against four Google execs over a video uploaded onto Google’s Italian-language site showing a disabled student teen taunted by peers. The investigation was prompted by an Italian advocacy group for people with Down syndrome, which lodged a complaint after being alerted to the video in September 2006. The 191-second video, shot in a classroom in Turin, shows four youths making fun of a disabled teenager and then hitting him on the head with a pack of tissues. The four youths, who filmed the event, also have faced criminal prosecution in a separate probe.

In September, prosecutors are expected to request that the four executives stand trial on charges of defamation and violation of privacy — both criminal charges under Italian law — for allegedly failing to adequately control the content of the site.

Stefano Hesse, head of communications for Google in Southern Europe, said Google removed the video within hours of having been notified of its existence. He said there’s no basis for legal action against the four officials under investigation because they had no involvement in the video incident. Hesse said that, under EU legislation, adopted into law by Italy, Google isn’t required to monitor third-party content on its sites, but takes down offending content when it is notified.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 25, 2008 (boomark / email).