YouTube ordered to take down anti-Muslim film

A US appeals court ordered YouTube on Wednesday to take down an anti-Muslim film that sparked violent riots in parts of the Middle East and death threats to the actors, reports AP from San Francisco.

The decision by a divided three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated a lawsuit filed against YouTube by an actress who appeared briefly in the 2012 video that led to rioting and deaths because of its negative portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.

YouTube resisted calls by President Barack Obama and other world leaders to take down the video, arguing that to do so amounted to unwarranted government censorship and would violate the Google-owned company’s free speech protections. Besides, the company argued that the filmmakers and not the actors of “Innocence of Muslims” owned the copyright and only they could remove it from YouTube.

Photo Caption: This September 20, 2012 AP photo shows Cindy Lee Garcia, right, one of the actresses in the film “Innocence of Muslims,” and attorney M Cris Armenta at a news conference before a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles.
This September 20, 2012 AP photo shows Cindy Lee Garcia, right, one of the actresses in the film “Innocence of Muslims,” and attorney M Cris Armenta at a news conference before a hearing at Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles.