LiveLeak Brings Back Fitna:

Here’s their statement on the subject:

On the 28th of March LiveLeak.com was left with no other choice but to remove the film “fitna” from our servers following serious threats to our staff and their families. Since that time we have worked constantly on upgrading all security measures thus offering better protection for our staff and families. With these measures in place we have decided to once more make this video live on our site. We will not be pressured into censoring material which is legal and within our rules. We apologise for the removal and the delay in getting it back, but when you run a website you don’t consider that some people would be insecure enough to threaten our lives simply because they do not like the content of a video we neither produced nor endorsed but merely hosted.

As I’ve commented before, I sympathize with distributors who feel pressured to remove materials for fear of violent retaliation. I have argued that “leading bookstores, like leading universities, need to take some risks — and, yes, even risks that involve potential risks to customers and employees — in order to protect the marketplace of ideas that sustains them.” But I recognize that we can’t expect everyone to be heroic on this score, and that goes double for smallish outfits that might not have a great deal of money to invest in security.

Still, while those who give in to threats shouldn’t get much blame, those who resist the threats (even with a brief delay for ramping up security) deserve praise. So, good work, LiveLeak: You’ve struck a badly needed blow for freedom, and against the thugs.

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