On Sunday, thousands of Muslims (around 3,500 according to The Huffington Post, but more like 10,000 according to The Telegraph) gathered in protest outside of Google’s London HQ over the company’s refusal to remove the controversial Innocence Of Muslims film from YouTube.
Some held signs saying, “Larry Page supports terrorism.”
Here’s a video from the protest that has been uploaded to YouTube:
Here’s a video the Telegraph has shared:
Here is what YouTube (Google) has said in a statement (via The Telegraph) regarding its refusal to remove the video in question:
“We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions. This can be a challenge because what’s OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere. This video – which is widely available on the Web – is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube.”
If one goes to view the video on YouTube, they are met with the following message before they can click through to watch it:
The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as being potentially offensive or inappropriate. Viewer discretion is advised.
The option to not display this warning in the future is available.
“Innocence of Muslims” is also the top search suggestion from Google’s autocomplete when you get as far as typing “Inn”.
The protests were reportedly just the first in a series, which, according to the Telegraph, will include a “million-strong march in Hyde Park” in the coming weeks.