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Posted by: kwflatbed

Tuesday, March 04, 2008
By Jonathan Richards


LONDON — YouTube is facing criticism for making it too easy for people to upload violent or sexually explicit content to the Internet after a 25-year-old mother was filmed while being raped.
A three-minute video showing the mother sexually assaulted by three boys after her drink had been spiked was uploaded soon after the incident, which took place in November.
In the clip, which was filmed with a mobile phone, the mother appears to be unconscious, with her head lolling from side to side, as she is repeatedly raped. Her 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son are heard crying in the background.
The mother, from South London, told The Sun that she had been put through the ordeal after drinking champagne that had been spiked with a date-rape drug.
"Three boys aged 14 to 16 did it and it was set up by two girls," she said. "They came round with a neighbor I trusted and I had no problems with them coming in for a while."
She said that she opened a bottle of champagne "to be social" and that within seconds of having a glass, she began to feel strange.
A video of the episode was later placed on YouTube, but the clip was quickly taken down after a viewer complained about its graphic nature. It is understood to have been seen 600 times.
"Putting (the video) on the internet was an abomination," the mother said. "I was raped on film, and you could hear my daughter and 4-year-old son crying. I cannot understand how any Web site could show such a thing."
A YouTube spokesman said that the site's rules prohibited content such as pornography and gratuitous violence from being uploaded. When people see content they think is inappropriate, he said, they can flag it and it will be reviewed.
"If the content breaks our terms, then we remove it, and if a user repeatedly breaks the rules we disable their account," the spokesman said.
A source close to YouTube said it was impossible for the site to review every video that was posted because more than 10 hours of content is uploaded every minute.
The source added that trained staff acted quickly to take down inappropriate content when it was flagged.
Since the mother came forward last month, the Metropolitan Police have begun an investigation into the incident and three teenagers -- two aged 16 and one aged 14 -- have so far been questioned.
YouTube has said that it cooperates with police when material relevant to an investigation is posted on the site.
Under UK law, sites that host videos posted by third parties must act "expeditiously" to disable access to them in the event of a complaint in order to avoid any liability that may result from the content appearing.
Lawyers said that in this case, there may be liability that would stem from the publication of obscene material.
"It is extremely difficult for YouTube to control this kind of content because in this instance -- where you have a video that may depict a crime -- there's no technical measure the site can apply that will prevent it being posted in the first place," said Struan Robertson, a technology lawyer with Pinsent Masons.
"The only option would be for them to review every video before it is posted and that is unrealistic. What sites like YouTube need is a good reporting mechanism which enables content to be flagged to the site once it has been posted, and YouTube operates well in this sense."
It is not the first time YouTube has been used as a forum for posting violent content.
Last month, a set of videos appeared on the site which showed students from Hitchin Boys' School, in Hertfordshire, apparently fighting with each other while bystanders looked on and gave them encouragement.
The footage has since been removed.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,334818,00.html

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Now woman in YouTube 'rape' is arrested over underage sex allegations

It was the shocking video that caused outrage and led to calls for YouTube to vet all its content.

The three-minute clip, filmed on a mobile phone, apparently showed a young and unconscious mother being gang raped as she lay helpless in her own home.
It was posted on the popular video-sharing website, which is owned by Google, within hours of the incident on November 6 and was viewed more than 600 times.
The clip stayed on the website for three months after YouTube staff failed to remove it.
The alleged victim claims it shows her being raped by three boys in front of her screaming children, aged two and four, after being drugged.
But yesterday it was revealed that the 24-year-old woman has now been arrested on suspicion of unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old and perverting the course of justice.
Scotland Yard confirmed it will take no further action against two 16-year-olds and a 14-yearold arrested in February in connection with the video.
Yesterday YouTube admitted a "mistake" by one of its staff meant the video was not removed for months.
The head lawyer of Google told a Commons hearing on Internet dangers to children that the clip would normally have been taken down sooner.
Kent Walker said further checks had been put in place to prevent a repeat of the incident.
But he resisted repeated calls for all submitted content to be pre-vetted, saying it would go against the spirit of the site.
Mr Walker added that he was unable to disclose how many staff were employed by Google to monitor footage on YouTube, causing Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Paul Farrelly to ask: "Do you know how absurd you are sounding?"
Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price, referring to the apparent rape clip, said: "People will find this deeply objectionable; you can't defend that. No reviewer could view that kind of content and not understand it for what it is."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/a...ube/article.do


Google mistake over YouTube 'rape' video


By Natalie Paris and agencies

Last Updated: 3:20pm BST 02/04/2008




Google has admitted it was at fault after a video apparently showing a gang rape was watched hundreds of times on the YouTube website.

UPDATE: Google rape 'victim' held on suspicion of perverting the course of justice


The internet giant explained to MPs today that the offending clip would normally have been taken down from the immensely popular video-sharing site sooner.
But head lawyer Kent Walker resisted repeated calls for all submitted content to be pre-vetted, saying it would go against the spirit of the internet and stifle creativity.

Mr Walker was questioned over the failure to remove the footage by the Commons culture, media and sport committee, which is investigating dangers posed to children by the internet.

The video clip, which was viewed up to 600 times, was reported to show an unconscious woman being attacked by several teenagers in London.

"I do not know exactly what happened but it was a mistake," he said.
"Once flagged, more than 50 per cent is removed within half an hour; a large majority is removed within an hour."
The team of reviewers responsible looked through a "huge amount" of material, he added, and there were very few examples of such problems.
Mr Walker suggested that YouTube should be treated as a communications tool not a broadcaster.

"If you tried to take that vast amount of content and pre-screen all of it, it's neither efficient nor effective and would burden the process of creativity," he said.
"It's not a price for us I would be concerned about but a price for the user."
He went on: "You do not have a policeman on every street corner to stop things from happening, you have policemen responding very quickly when things do happen."
Mr Walker also defended Google's decision to allow the Chinese government to restrict content on the Google search engine in China.
He argued that there was a balance to strike between such control and the opportunity offered to promote free speech by the content that remained.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...ngoogle101.xml

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