Google May Have Assisted Hillary Clinton in Blocking Benghazi Video

Source: Sputnik

by Carolyn Kaster

March 19, 2016

One of Hillary Clinton's emails from an archive recently released by WikiLeaks indicates that the former secretary of state cooperated with Google CEO Larry Page to block controversial Benghazi videos on YouTube.

This combination of file photos shows Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton(R) speaking at New York University in New York on July 24, 2015 and US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump exiting the New York Supreme Court after morning jury duty on August 17, 2015 in New York

US Troops Favor Trump and Sanders; Clinton Last Among Viable Candidates On Friday WikiLeaks tweeted that one of Clinton's emails reveals the current Democratic presidential front-runner worked with Google's CEO to keep the "Innocence of Muslims" video blocked on YouTube.

US ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other personnel were killed on September 11, 2012, in a fiery siege on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Following the attack, YouTube blocked the anti-Muslim clip, which was accused of sparking anti-American protests in the Middle East, and various other countries.

The search engine giant claimed it had rejected a request by the White House to review the suitability of the video. The company said it decided to restrict the clip in certain states to comply with local laws, rather than as a response to political pressure.

Hillary worked with Google CEOs to keep #Bengazhi video from public https://t.co/pETl91muwp https://t.co/QL6DvoYuC2 pic.twitter.com/4IwJkhXqDr

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 18, 2016

According to the recent Clinton email revelations, her staff was in contact with Google regarding a blocked YouTube video. On September 27, 2012, then-Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough emailed several people the phone numbers of Page and then-CEO of YouTube Salar Kamangar.

US Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders leave the stage during a break in the Democratic Presidential Debate hosted by ABC News at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on December 19, 2015.

Sanders Regained: Clinton's Invective Backfires Because Of Internet The second email, sent to State Department officials by Nora Toiv, a special assistant to the counselor of the State Department, states that a Google employee "just called back" and reassured that the block "will stay through Monday."

On Wednesday, WikiLeaks launched a searchable archive for the 30,322 emails and email attachments sent to and from Clinton's private email server while she served as the nation's top diplomat. The emails were made available in the form of thousands of PDFs by the US State Department as a result of a Freedom of Information Act request.