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YouTube removes Islamic cleric's radical videos from service

Written by James Delahunty @ 03 Nov 2010 11:32 User comments (20)

YouTube removes Islamic cleric's radical videos from service Following the discovery of viable bomb materials hidden in parcels destined for Chicago, YouTube has decided to remove videos featuring an American-born radical cleric.
Anwar al-Awlaki reportedly appeared in over 700 videos available on the YouTube, the world's largest video hub, which amounted to a total of 3.5 million views. He was recently charged in absentia in Yemen with incitement to kill foreigners after the discovery of U.S.-bound explosives.

Following the developments, YouTube repeatedly received calls from British and American officials requesting that the cleric's videos, which often contained calls for a holy war, be removed from the service. In September 2008, YouTube already changed its policies, banning the upload of videos "that incite others to commit violent acts, videos on activities such as how to make bombs and footage of sniper attacks."

However, YouTube's system depends on users actually reporting videos that do not adhere to the upload guidelines. US Congressman Anthony Weiner, a Democrat from New York, who has dubbed al-Awlaki as the "bin Laden of the Internet," wrote to YouTube requesting that the site move to rid itself of the cleric's message.



"I understand that YouTube is a clearing house for ideas and that your company aims to not infringe on free speech, but al-Awlaki message, promoted via YouTube, has caused violence and is a threat to American security," his letter reads.

"I request that you remove this man and his hateful rhetoric from your website, as he poses a clear and present danger to American citizens."

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20 user comments

14.11.2010 00:11

He's not a threat to the American citizens, i'm quite sure its the other way around.

24.11.2010 01:28

I thought that the president's own cabinet announced that no explosives were found, and that we have all forgotten about this now that the mid-term election that this was designed so skew has taken place?

If the government is forcing youtube to take these videos down because a few printers were shipped on airplanes from Yemen on a day that no flights left Yemen, then maybe this guy isn't all wrong (violence isn't the answer, so he is at least half wrong).

34.11.2010 02:40

Originally posted by KillerBug:
I thought that the president's own cabinet announced that no explosives were found, and that we have all forgotten about this now that the mid-term election that this was designed so skew has taken place?

If the government is forcing youtube to take these videos down because a few printers were shipped on airplanes from Yemen on a day that no flights left Yemen, then maybe this guy isn't all wrong (violence isn't the answer, so he is at least half wrong).
Wow. First of all the printers contained PETN. The one found in England had 400 grams of PETN and the one found in Dubai had 300 grams of PETN. Both had enough to take down the aircraft they were being transported on.

Now I have absolutely no doubt that conspiracy theorists have already jumped on this with their usual bullshit (I'd be willing to bet on alex jones' infowars or some other typical outfit for misinformation), but the fact of the matter is there was most definitely explosives used and that's confirmed by a lot more than just the United States, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United Kingdom etc.

Secondly, the government didn't force YouTube to do anything. YouTube has policies against videos that incite violence but it relies on users to report it before it can be removed. Clearly when Congressman Weiner (what a name) alerted YouTube about it, they found that al-Awlaki's call for Holy War conflicted with its own policies.

This guy has a long history of fundamentalism. His own sermons were attended by at least three of the 19 hijackers before 9/11 and he met with two of them privately. He is literally the first American citizen who has been placed on a CIA target list after Obama approved his assassination a few months ago.

Both the Fort Hood shooter and Faisal Shazad (Times Square dude) were inspired by him too, as was the guy who had PETN in his underwear on Christmas Day on a flight last year. I don't think I really need to go on about this guy. He is just another complete manipulator who targets young muslims who feel pressured in the West by the stigma since 9/11.

44.11.2010 05:00

Ok, so I'll assume that the president's own cabinet lied...nothing new.

I have no questions that this guy is a violent extremist, but free speech is free speech. If the users can't get his videos removed, but a congressman can, then clearly the videos were taken down by the government.

"He is literally the first American citizen who has been placed on a CIA target list after Obama approved his assassination a few months ago."

Wow...you actually said it in defense...approved the assassination of a united states citizen based on his opinions and speech? That makes me feel really warm and fuzzy...

54.11.2010 09:43

Free speech? When did YouTube ever guarantee anyone free speech? This jackass can continue to say whatever he wants but I fully defend YouTube's right to decide he not do it on their site.

64.11.2010 10:05

@Killerbug



this little thing called Treason, Aiding and Abetting your Enemies ....

74.11.2010 15:37

Originally posted by KillerBug:
Ok, so I'll assume that the president's own cabinet lied...nothing new.

I have no questions that this guy is a violent extremist, but free speech is free speech. If the users can't get his videos removed, but a congressman can, then clearly the videos were taken down by the government.

"He is literally the first American citizen who has been placed on a CIA target list after Obama approved his assassination a few months ago."

Wow...you actually said it in defense...approved the assassination of a united states citizen based on his opinions and speech? That makes me feel really warm and fuzzy...
I think you might have confused it with a report that several months ago there was a suspected trial run where bomb-like structures were hidden in packages to see if they would get through security but they contained no explosives. That wasn't what happened at the end of October though. England and the United Arab Emirates examined the packages and found PETN was present and the bombs were viable and likely would have blown up the aircraft in route if they weren't found when they were.

Also, his assassination approval is because he was behind several attempted attacks on the United States, it is NOT his speech. There are radical clerics everywhere who say extremist nonsense on a daily basis but there's a difference between saying and doing, and Anwar al-Awlaki is attempting to fuel a global jihad against the United States and has every intention of killing American and other Western citizens (or well, as usual, he's happy to sit back and have others do it for him, just like bin Laden). It is a treasonous act. The green light on his head is his own doing.

85.11.2010 01:26

Originally posted by Dela:
Originally posted by KillerBug:
Ok, so I'll assume that the president's own cabinet lied...nothing new.

I have no questions that this guy is a violent extremist, but free speech is free speech. If the users can't get his videos removed, but a congressman can, then clearly the videos were taken down by the government.

"He is literally the first American citizen who has been placed on a CIA target list after Obama approved his assassination a few months ago."

Wow...you actually said it in defense...approved the assassination of a united states citizen based on his opinions and speech? That makes me feel really warm and fuzzy...
I think you might have confused it with a report that several months ago there was a suspected trial run where bomb-like structures were hidden in packages to see if they would get through security but they contained no explosives. That wasn't what happened at the end of October though. England and the United Arab Emirates examined the packages and found PETN was present and the bombs were viable and likely would have blown up the aircraft in route if they weren't found when they were.

Also, his assassination approval is because he was behind several attempted attacks on the United States, it is NOT his speech. There are radical clerics everywhere who say extremist nonsense on a daily basis but there's a difference between saying and doing, and Anwar al-Awlaki is attempting to fuel a global jihad against the United States and has every intention of killing American and other Western citizens (or well, as usual, he's happy to sit back and have others do it for him, just like bin Laden). It is a treasonous act. The green light on his head is his own doing.
Those are all great reasons to try to arrest him...even to issue an old-west style "dead or alive" warrant...but to OK an assassination is just like saying, "we don't want him talking at his trial".

As for his "help" to terrorists, so far it seems to have been a good thing. The government sends test bombs through the airlines all the time, and they never get detected...yet 100% of these printers were detected. His only other notable contribution to the terrorists would be the "underwear bomber"...perhaps the funniest terrorism attempt in history.

As to the actual explosives, I am still skeptical...trained bomb detectors had not found anything for 6 hours...I would post the link to the CNN story (I saved the link on Saturday morning), but they changed the page almost 8 hours after that...removing all references to the original reports, and adding a picture of a toner cart filled with white powder.

Here is the "updated" page...where they now claim that explosives were found on the outside of the toner drums:
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/10/29/security.concern/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

As for youtube policies, many users complained and the videos were not removed because Google believes in free speech (that is why they had the China fiasco). Of course, a congressman comes around and starts saying terrorist, and they are smart enough to bend over and take it.

95.11.2010 11:03

This is what Zionism want in the united states,silence everyone with fear,manipulation lies and threads.
Is the guy is a terrorist he should be prosecuted in a court of law.
We all know we have many dirty edited by ddp in our goverment,we all know Obama stabbed us all in the back following the same Bush policies.I refuse to live in fear,the reality is The World is piss at us because our gov.support the terrorist state of Israhell.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 05 Nov 2010 @ 12:28

105.11.2010 12:30

Rafym14, b*llsh*t!!

115.11.2010 12:54

if i seen this guy on the road, id shoot to kill. the bounty money could set me for life, and god only knows what his next target might be if i choose not to end his ways, permanently.

125.11.2010 14:23

Originally posted by ddp:
Rafym14, b*llsh*t!!
Totally!!!
Whackjob comes to mind doesn't it dude...

135.11.2010 14:32

I find anyone that uses the word "Zionism" or "zionists" pretty much zion* is getting ready to lay some BS on me...ROFL


145.11.2010 16:12

Originally posted by dEwMe:
I find anyone that uses the word "Zionism" or "zionists" pretty much zion* is getting ready to lay some BS on me...ROFL


Does get pretty old doesn't it..;)
Zionism this...Zion that...secretly controls everything..blah-blah. It's Islam & associated nutcrackers that have global ambitions that are dangerous ATM, not Zionists.

156.11.2010 03:20

Originally posted by dEwMe:
I find anyone that uses the word "Zionism" or "zionists" pretty much zion* is getting ready to lay some BS on me...ROFL


Haha, I was thinking the same thing.

166.11.2010 03:35

Haha, jeez, everyone seems to hate Israel for some reason. I love Israel, they don't take crap from anybody. They're literally surrounded by enemies, and they just give em the middle finger.

176.11.2010 21:19

middle finger to the un, europe & the states.

186.11.2010 21:30

Originally posted by ddp:
middle finger to the un, europe & the states.
= Certain Destruction.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 06 Nov 2010 @ 9:31

1910.11.2010 00:36

Originally posted by DXR88:
if i seen this guy on the road, id shoot to kill. the bounty money could set me for life, and god only knows what his next target might be if i choose not to end his ways, permanently.
That is what I thought when I first started seeing these bounties...$10,000,000 for Osama would be sweet...but I honestly think I would end up in Guantanamo Bay if I showed up at the Crawford Ranch and shot George's best friend.

2010.11.2010 02:08

Originally posted by KillerBug:
Originally posted by DXR88:
if i seen this guy on the road, id shoot to kill. the bounty money could set me for life, and god only knows what his next target might be if i choose not to end his ways, permanently.
That is what I thought when I first started seeing these bounties...$10,000,000 for Osama would be sweet...but I honestly think I would end up in Guantanamo Bay if I showed up at the Crawford Ranch and shot George's best friend.
LOL, point taken.

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