MILAN — An Italian prosecutor demanded jail time Wednesday for four Google executives charged in absentia with defamation and violating privacy for allowing a video to be posted online showing an autistic youth being abused.
Prosecutor Alfredo Robledo is seeking a one-year term for three executives for violating privacy, and six months for a fourth for defamation in the case. Sentencing is expected Dec. 23.
“This prosecution is akin to prosecuting mail-service employees for hate-speech letters sent in the post,” Google said. “We took the video down when notified by the authorities and, thanks to our cooperation, the bullies who recorded and uploaded it have been identified and punished.”
The Mountain View, Calif., company has said 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 websites such as the Google-owned YouTube.
