Four Google executives should not be held responsible for a video posted online that showed teenagers abusing an autistic youth in Turin, their lawyers argued Wednesday in an Italian court.
The executives are being tried in absentia in Milan – a case that has been painted as a battle for privacy rights by the prosecution and a threat to freedom of expression by Google.
Prosecutors have asked for sentences ranging from six months to one year in jail for the defendants, who are charged with defamation and violating privacy. The four deny wrongdoing. A verdict is expected in late January.
Under Italian law, “the person who uploads the video online must get permission from the person who is seen in the images, Google can’t do it,” defense lawyer Giuseppe Vaciago told The Associated Press. “It would be very difficult for any platform, not just Google, to acquire information on the subject filmed.”
The trial is being held behind closed doors. Vaciago spoke after Wednesday’s hearing in a telephone interview with The AP.
Prosecutors say the case is about enforcing Italy’s privacy laws as well as ensuring that large corporations do their utmost to block inappropriate content or quickly delete it.
The Mountain View, California, company says it considers the trial a threat to freedom on the Internet because it could force providers into an impossible task – prescreening the thousands of hours of footage uploaded every day onto Web sites like the Google-owned YouTube.
“The issue at stake in this courtroom affects all Internet companies and all Internet users,” Google said in a statement Wednesday. “(It is) akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech letters sent in the post.”
The defendants are Google’s senior vice president and chief legal officer David Drummond, former chief financial officer George Reyes and global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer – for whom prosec utors requested a year in jail – and senior product marketing manager Arvind Desikan, for whom six months were asked.
None was involved with producing, uploading or viewing the video, according to the defense. Lawyers will continue their closing arguments on Dec. 23, and a ruling could come on Jan. 27.
Vivi Down, an advocacy group for people with Down syndrome, alerted prosecutors to the 2006 video showing an autistic student in Turin being beaten and insulted by bullies at school.
The video was uploaded on Google’s video site before the company’s 2006 acquisition of YouTube.
Google eventually took down the video, though the two sides disagree on how fast the company reacted to complaints. Thanks to the footage and Google’s cooperation, the four bullies were identified and sentenced to community service by a juvenile court.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More