Branded with al-Qaeda logos, videos easily available on YouTube showed assassinations, deaths of U.S. soldiers and civilians, weapons training, speeches by al-Qaeda leadership and more—all intended to encourage violence against the Western world. Only after Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) pointed out the content in a letter to Internet giant Google, who owns YouTube, was much of the most graphic content removed on May 20.
The videos taken down violated Youtube's own rules against gratuitous violence.
"That is a start but it is not enough," said Lieberman in an online statement on that day. "Videos produced by al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda affiliates showing attacks on American troops remain on YouTube's website and violate YouTube's own community guidelines. Those videos should be taken down immediately."
Lieberman said he also wants Google to take down other content that may not be violent but that is still used to disseminate terrorist propaganda, enlist followers, and provide weapons training.
"No matter what their content, videos produced by terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda, that are committed to attacking America and killing Americans, should not be tolerated. Google must reconsider its policy," said Lieberman.
In an online response, YouTube deferred to free speech: "Senator Lieberman stated his belief, in a letter sent today, that all videos mentioning or featuring these groups should be removed from YouTube—even legal nonviolent or non-hate speech videos. While we respect and understand his views, YouTube encourages free speech and defends everyone's right to express unpopular points of view."
One such blog, that might be censored if Google decided to step up its regulations, reads, "O Allah, defeat the spiteful Rawafeds [Shiites] and the Zionist Crusaders [U.S. forces] and their allies. … O Allah, make them with their equipments a booty for the Muslims. ... O Allah destroy them."
Another blog, called "The Voice of Jihad," explicitly discusses crushing the dreams of the U.S. army and cutting off their "rotten heads."
Lieberman's letter followed the release of a report earlier this month from the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that examines the serious threat of homegrown terrorism.
The report mentions the potential for radicalization in U.S. prisons, citing the activities of Kevin Lamar James, an American citizen. While in prison, James adopted a violent Islamist ideology and began converting fellow prisoners to his cause. After release, James recruited his converts to commit at least 11 armed robberies, the proceeds from which were to be used to finance attacks against military installations and other targets in southern California.
James eventually pled guilty to conspiring to wage war against the United States.
"As the James case and others illustrate, however, radicalization is no longer confined to training camps in Afghanistan or other locations far from our shores; it is also occurring right here in the United States," reads the report.
In his initial letter, Lieberman pleaded, "Protecting our citizens from terrorist attacks is a top priority for our government. The private sector can help us do that."
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