Google is facing a moral dilemma. On YouTube, it is possible to find video clips of a grandmother passing along her time tested kitchen recipes. On the other hand, there are videos asking for funds to support terrorist activities:

“Islamist insurgents in the Philippines linked to al-Qaida have sought to emulate other wildly successful internet fund-raising efforts with a video appeal for cash on YouTube.”

link: Philippine Islamists post fundraising clip on YouTube

The problem for Google is an essential choice between security and censorship. If Google allows such clips on its YouTube site, there will be outrage that the company is not doing enough to protect people’s security. On the other hand, if Google bans such clips and regulates content, then it is on the slippery slope of being internet censors.

Sometimes this ‘don’t be evil’ stuff is just a tough choice.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster:  http://flyinghamster.com/

[tags]google, youtube, security, censorship, choices[/tags]