YouTube rejects White House request to pull anti-Islam film clip

Google Inc rejected a request by the White House on Friday to reconsider its decision to keep online a controversial YouTube movie clip that has ignited anti-American protests in the Middle East.

The Internet company said it was censoring the video in India and Indonesia after blocking it on Wednesday in Egypt and Libya, where U.S. embassies have been stormed by protestors enraged over depiction of the Prophet Mohammad as a fraud and philanderer.

Hit by spiraling tide of anti-American protests in the Muslim world, the White House had asked Google-owned YouTube to review continued uploading of a controversial film deemed offensive to Islam.

Holding the video as primarily responsible for the violent anti-US protests in the Middle East and North African countries, the Obama administration has told the YouTube to see if it was in compliance with their terms of use.

"We reached out to YouTube to call the video to their attention and asked them to review whether it violates their terms of use," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

However, officials emphasised that this was not any move to block the controversial video.

At the same time, the US reiterated its commitment to freedom of expression and speech and declined to take any action against banning or blocking this video, akin to that of several countries like India, Pakistan and Indonesia.

On Tuesday, the US Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in a fiery siege on the embassy in Benghazi.

Google said was further restricting the clip to comply with local law rather than as a response to political pressure.

"We've restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt, given the very sensitive situations in these two countries," the company said. "This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007."

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