Filed under: General News — Michael van der Galien, Editor-in-Chief on March 28, 2008 @ 9:41 pm CET
I just visited LiveLeak to see how many people had watched both the English and Dutch versions of “Fitna.” Suddenly I saw that LiveLeak had take it off and replaced Geert Wilders’ movie with a statement saying that due to threats LiveLeak had to take the film down.
Click on this link if you want to see the statement.
It says:
The Removal of “Fitna”
Official LiveLeak statement
Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed comments from certain members of the British media that could directly affect the safety of some staff members, liveleak has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.
This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realised LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.
Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one another’s culture.
We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.
Very, very sad.
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1 cubanbob
March 28, 2008 @ 10:06 pm CETBesides this craven apology, should they not have refereed all the threats to both the US FBI and the UK Scotland Yard?
2 Steve-o
March 28, 2008 @ 10:07 pm CETSo, the terrorists win again. "We stood for what we believed in…" ‘until we learned there would be a price for that.’ There, fixed that for ya, LiveLeak. Free speech will not survive if this attitude becomes prevalent. That cliche, "freedom isn’t free" comes to mind. LiveLeak had to know the threats would come, they "stood" just long enough to get a traffic bump, and then folded.
3 OregonJon
March 28, 2008 @ 10:07 pm CETA powerful film worthy of wide dissemination. The price was too high? What is the price of cowardice, anyway?
4 Sister Toldjah
March 29, 2008 @ 2:09 am CETFitna pulled off of LiveLeak…
Yesterday I blogged about Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders’ just-released 15 minute film Fitna, which was posted on numerous video sites, removed from some sites, and reposted at other video sites. LiveLeak was one of the few multimedia sites that kept…
5 Susan Duclos
March 29, 2008 @ 2:33 am CETLiveLeak did its bit, it is out there. There are still many sites hosting it with embed codes.
I feel bad LiveLeak had threats issued against their staff, but the genie is out of the bottle and many are standing up for the free speech issues and posting it still.
Just because Wilders is an ass, doesn’t mean his rights to free speech to BE an ass should be taken away.
6 A. A. B.
March 29, 2008 @ 3:21 am CETAs a friend of mine commented about the Islamists who threated Liveleak: "If you dare show us as killers, we will kill you".
7 Daryl Herbert
March 29, 2008 @ 3:55 am CETSteve-O, it sounds like at least one of LiveLeak’s employees was directly, personally threatened with violence.
The British media helped to locate LiveLeak staff members so that
Islamists could threaten them?
This is insane. LiveLeak should name the members of the British media who did such a thing, so that they can live the rest of THEIR lives in fear.
8 Blue Star Chronicles
March 29, 2008 @ 6:32 am CETMuslim Extremists are Trying to Shut Down Dutch Film on Islamic Fascism…
There’s just a big brouhaha going on because of the Geert Wilders film, Fitna. Obviously, a lot of people saw that coming and many people and groups tried to stop it from being released from the get-go.
I watched the film and saw acts of terrori…
9 AnAmericaninGermany
March 30, 2008 @ 3:24 pm CESTThe authorities had better track down, arrest, and incarcerate every person who uttered those threats. I am sick and tired of hearing that Muslims are angry about people pointing out how violent they and their religion are.
If our politicians and law enforcement officials don’t start reacting, maybe the best thing for the rest of us to do is become terrorists ourselves.
10 How The Religion of Peace Responds to Dissent or Criticism « The Sisyphus Files
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