Google denied request to remove video showing abuse of Georgia inmate
Georgia State Prison. Source: Wikimedia Commons
A recently-released transparency report from Google shows the company rejected a request from the Georgia Department of Corrections to remove a YouTube video that allegedly shows the abuse of an inmate.
According to the report, between July and December 2013, “We received a request from the Georgia Department of Corrections to remove a YouTube video depicting alleged abuse of inmates. The department requested the video be removed due to its violent nature.”
Google added, “We did not remove content in response to this request as the video did not violate YouTube Community Guidelines.”
The report provides no additional information. A report on WABE says that during the time period provided by Google, someone posted a video on YouTube that allegedly shows officers beating an inmate with a hammer at Smith State Prison in Glennville, Ga. To read that story, click here.
The incident allegedly occurred in 2010. This video matches the description in the WABE report. Warning: this video contains graphic images.
http://youtu.be/poArvnou92w
A report published by the Southern Center for Human Rights in July singled out Smith State Prison as one of the most dangerous for inmates. According to the report, “Twenty-one percent of the 33 homicides of Georgia prisoners since 2010 occurred at Smith State Prison.”
“It is perhaps the most dangerous prison in the state,” the report says.
Google’s transparency report discloses the number of requests the internet search company receives from government agencies and copyright holders to remove information.
“We hope these steps toward greater transparency will help inform ongoing discussions about the appropriate scope and authority of content regulation online,” the introduction to the transparency report says.
Google is currently considering whether to bring its fiber internet service to the Atlanta market. A decision is expected “early next year.”