Ich habe schon jetzt von dem Spiegel gehört, dass LiveLeak den Film “Fitna” von ihren Servern entfernen musste. Zwar ist es ein trauriger Tag für die Menschenrechte im Internet.
For those who don’t speak German, here’s an article auf englisch.
During the day that the film was available, it prompted widespread condemnation. On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon decried Fitna as hate speech.
“I condemn, in the strongest terms, the airing of Geert Wilders’ offensively anti-Islamic film,” said Ban in a statement. “There is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free expression is not at stake here. I acknowledge the efforts of the Government of the Netherlands to stop the broadcast of this film, and appeal for calm to those understandably offended by it. Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility.”
Incitement to violence, eh? Spoken like someone who hasn’t even seen the movie. Fitna calls for Europe to defeat Islamic ideology and for Muslims to excise the violent verses from the Quran. It does not call for violence against Muslims. So far the only people who have been incited to violence are the Muslims themselves (as usual). Nice “religion of peace” you’ve got there, guys.
This is the statement that the LiveLeaks staff has put up in place of the video:
Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly affect the safety of some staff members, LiveLeak has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.
This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realised LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.
Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one anothers culture.
We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.
Fortunately, it was also available for download before LiveLeak pulled it, which means hopefully there are many brave souls on the internets who will be willing to mirror or torrent it. The terrorists will not win.
Edit: And here it is on Google Video. Looks like it’s on YouTube as well. We will not be cowed.
