Steve, I posted a comment a few days ago, but for some reason it did not show up on the page. I don't remember exactly what I wrote (perhaps it is recoverable from the server?), but I will try again here. For the most part I agree with your paper. I do think that regulation would be mostly futile and could also possibly lead us to a slippery slope. Who is deciding what to censor? I do, however, think that clear attempts to instigate violence can be easily identified. But, as David writes above, there can certainly be gray areas. The beauty of an open forum website like youtube is that people can leave comments or post video responses to debunk hate speech, correct misinformation, etc. The problem is that video posters can choose to not allow comments and can block video responses. Do you think that a site like youtube could effectively deal with controversial videos (that might not be inherently violent) by mandating that all comments be allowed and all video responses be linked?

-- MarcRoitman - 10 Dec 2008

Steven, I hope you won't mind if I follow up on your response to Kate above. In your comment, you say that you would take down content that creates imminent physical violence. This made me think of Jyllands-Posten's cartoons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy), which sparked riots resulting in over 100 deaths. Would you take these down? Does the user/intent ever matter? What if similar cartoons were posted by a terrorist group in hopes of causing rioting?

-- DavidHambrick - 10 Dec 2008

Steven, have you considered the locality of the servers in your argument? If the content in question is located on a server outside of the United States, should they still be able to take it down (assuming arguendo that they could do so)? Should other nations have the right to do the same with content on US servers they feel incites violence against or by their citizens? What about differing views on what constitutes "imminence?" That is a concept that already leads to difficulties, both in our own criminal justice system in regards to the United Nations charter and lawful military action. See Bobbitt, Philip, Terror and Consent: The Wars for the Twenty-First Century (New York: Alfed A. Knopf, 2008), Pg. 452.

-- JohnPowerHely - 09 Dec 2008