Activists troubled by White House call to YouTube

By JOSH GERSTEIN

Prominent civil liberties groups expressed concern on Friday over news that the White House urged YouTube to review whether an anti-Muslim video posted on the video sharing site violated the firm's policies.

"There's no indication that the government is questioning the right of these idiots to make that repellent film. On the other hand, it does make us nervous when the government throws its weight behind any requests for censorship," the American Civil Liberties Union's Ben Wizner said in an interview Friday.

"I am actually kind of distressed by this," said Eva Galperin of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Even though there are all these great quotes from inside the White House saying they support free speech....by calling YouTube from the White House, they were sending a message no matter how much they say we don't want them to take it down, when the White House calls and asks you to review it, it sends a message and has a certain chilling effect."

The White House confirmed the request on Friday, but insisted that YouTube was not asked to take down the video, which paints the Prophet Mohammed as sex-crazed and has led to violent protests at U.S. diplomatic posts across North Africa.

"The White House asked YouTube to review the video to see if it was in compliance with their terms of use," White House press secretary Jay Carney told POLITICO in an e-mail.

Both Wizner and Galperin said they'd like to know more details about precisely who contacted YouTube, why, and what was asked of the firm.

A White House spokesman wouldn't offer much additional detail to POLITICO Friday, but said the request took place on Tuesday and was made by a member of the National Security Council staff.

Galperin told POLITICO it was pretty clear the White House wanted the video taken down. "They were not calling in support of keeping the video up," she said. "The fact they called at all is highly problematic...I don’t think anyone at the White House genuinely thought YouTube had not revewied this video. It is simply ludicrous to say so."

Wizner said he was not troubled by figures like President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly condemning the video, so long as they made clear that it was protected by the First Amendment.

"It's staggeringly offensive," Wizner said of the video. "There's nothing inappropriate about government officials expressing strongly held views about speech so long as they understand where the line is," he added, noting that the Supreme Court ruled last year, 8-1, in favor of the right of anti-gay religious protesters to demonstrate at military funerals. "It's hard to imagine speech more repellent, more offensive and more painful than that....It's not sandbox out there."

Obama did not mention free speech rights in his first remarks Wednesday on the controversy and the possibly related attack that killed four U.S. State Department staffers at a diplomatic post in Libya, including the U.S. ambassador to that country. However, during a press interview a short time later, the president did vow to protect First Amendment rights.

"We believe in the First Amendment. It is one of the hallmarks of our Constitution that I’m sworn to uphold. And so we are always going to uphold the rights for individuals to speak their mind. On the other hand, this film is not representative of who we are and our values, and I think it's important for us to communicate that," Obama told CBS's "60 Minutes" later Wednesday.

YouTube has blocked access to the video on its site by users in Egypt, Libya and India. Afghanistan's government has reportedly blocked all access to YouTube in order to prevent access to the offending video.

Spokespeople for YouTube, which is owned by Google, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the White House's contact with the company. However, in a statement Wednesday—a day after the White House request, the firm said the video was "clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube."

On Wednesday, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Martin Dempsey, called a controversial Christian pastor in Florida to ask him not to screen or promote the film. Dempsey, who was seeking to prevent violence against U.S. military personnel abroad, acted "on his own initiative," a Pentagon spokesman said.