I’ve long praised Brazil as a magical land where butts are worshiped and few f*cks are given, but today’s news threatens to change all that. It turns out a Muslim group in Brazil sued YouTube in Brazilian court over hosting Sam Bacile’s now-infamous Innocence of Muslims trailer… and they won. The court ordered YouTube to pull the trailer within 10 days.
The decision by a state court in Sao Paulo, home to a large Middle Eastern immigrant community, came hours after Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff criticized “Islamophobia” in Western countries in a speech at the United Nations.
The lawsuit against the controversial film was brought by a Brazilian Muslim group, the National Islamic Union, against YouTube owner Google Inc for posting on the Internet a film it said was offensive and a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of religion.
In his decision, Judge Gilson Delgado Miranda said the case juxtaposed freedom of expression and the need to protect individuals or groups of people from action that might incite religious discrimination.
Miranda concluded that banning something illegal should not “offend” freedom of thought and expression, according to the ruling posted online by Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.
Well sure, suspending freedom of speech in certain cases shouldn’t hurt freedom of speech. Everyone has access to freedom of speech, as long as they don’t say things that other people don’t like, that’s how it works, right?? … Meanwhile, back in America, Google execs, upon hearing the ruling, commented, “Oooh, an ultimatum from Brazil, we’re soooo scared. What are you going to do if we don’t take the video down, pull out our pubic hair?”
It wasn’t the only Brazilian court ruling against Google on Tuesday. Earlier, an elections court ordered the arrest of Google’s most senior executive in Brazil after the company failed to take down YouTube videos attacking a local mayoral candidate. [Reuters]
Arrested, seriously? Get it together, Brazil. I’m not sure you guys quite understand how the internet works (if our senators think it’s a series of tubes, God only knows what analogy they use over there). And anyway, don’t you have bigger things to worry about? Like, say, Blanka? If my countless hours of Street Fighter have taught me anything, it’s that you should be far more worried about Blanka than a couple of angry Muslims. He’ll bite your face! And the electricity!