Videos removed from YouTube in extremism clampdown (15)
'YouTube Islamist' Anwar al-Awlaki videos removed in extremism clampdown
Born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, Awlaki was known as the “YouTube Islamist” by 2010. The preacher was killed in 2011 by a US drone strike in Yemen, leaving behind a substantial library of sermons, lectures and essays. YouTube has removed thousands of videos of the radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in a significant step up for the site’s anti-extremism campaign. It is the first time Google’s video site has taken such concerted action against a particular individual.
- Awlaki’s killing in 2011 was controversial: he was the first US citizen to be a legal target for assassination in the post-9/11 years.
- YouTube has long faced calls to clamp down on Awlaki’s preaching as a result. By 2011, it had implemented its policy of removing hate speech and incitement to commit violent acts, removing a few hundred Awlaki videos in the process.
- Hadley said: “It’s easy to scapegoat particular videos and shy away from more fundamental questions about how radicalisation works. We’re talking about individuals who are highly vulnerable. This content enables radicalisation, but it’s not the sole problem.”
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