(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar)
A recent shock video published at the end of November on YouTube, the free video hosting service now owned by Google, has triggered extensive reactions in Italy. The video was showing a group of four Italian teenagers attacking a 17-year-old disabled boy in a classroom in Turin. The attackers also made a video of their actions that was posted on YouTube.
Although Google had deleted the movie as soon as they were informed about it, the Italian Police has opened a criminal proceeding against Google - the Italian subsidiary. The action included a police raid on the Milan offices of Google.
Google Italy has confirmed that the videos published by the users go online automatically and there is no editorial preventive filter from their part. They have also claimed that they delete all the videos that are contrary to their policy or have illegal content, but they rely mostly on their community to signal the illegal content. Google's spokeswoman Rachel Whetstone said: "We've been helping Italian police with the investigation and we're happy to cooperate."
However, the Milan prosecutors have started a criminal case against two employees of Google Italy, considering they were responsible for not checking the content of that video before it went online. In this case Google was treated as an Internet content provider, and, according to law 62/2001 and art. 57 Penal Code, the webmaster is responsible also for the third party actions and has also journalistic responsibility to avoid "committing illegal acts".
It is interesting that the prosecutors did not consider Google as a hosting provider and did not apply the Italian law 39/2002 that implemented the European Directive 2001/31/EC on electronic commerce. According to this law, there isn't a general obligation of preventive surveillance for Internet providers, and only in the case of a decision of an authority, they should remove or make specific content unavailable.
EDRi-member ALCEI has pointed out that there are important comments to take into consideration such as " the responsibility of parents and educators, the widespread deterioration of human and social values, the warping of culture and behavior. " At the same time it has highlighted that some people are using this opportunity to control free speech:
"They are "blaming" the internet for this awful episode - while it is obvious that the disgusting idea of placing a video online provided a tool for finding and persecuting the perpetrators, who otherwise would have probably remained unidentified and uncontrolled. Political spokesmen (of different parties across the "partisan" spectrum) are demanding or suggesting new laws and regulations, apparently including and obligation to obtain "written approval" by parents for minors to use the internet, but also to increase censorship, filtering and control by providers. "
Italy's Minister of Education, Giuseppe Fioroni, considered the prosecutors had correctly applied to the Internet the same legislation regulating what can be published in newspapers or broadcast on television.
The outcome of the legal action against Google is not yet certain, but some legal experts in Italy doubt its success. However, the main problem is setting one more nasty precedent for Internet provider - responsibility and control on user content. In one word - censorship.
The "Google case" in Italy: one more excuse for censorship and repression
(26.11.2006)
http://www.alcei.org/?p=25
Not only the Google case (In Italian only, 27.11.2006)
http://gandalf.it/nodi/censura.htm
Shock video against a disabled teen. A European directive could help Google
(In Italian only, 28.11.2006)
http://www.interlex.it/regole/abruzzo12.htm
Interlex no 353 The Internetfobia strikes again with absurd legislative
proposals (In Italian only, 28.11.2006)
http://www.interlex.it/numeri/061128.htm
(Thanks to EDRI-member ALCEI )