Report: Obama Administration Asks YouTube to Review 'Innocence of Muslims' Video

Updated: Controversial video has spurred wave of anti-American violence in Middle East

By B&C Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/14/2012 12:31:14 PM

The White House has asked YouTube to review the film clip Innocence of Muslims blamed with inciting a wave of violence in the Middle East this week to see if the video violates the site's terms of service, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

The 14-minute anti-Muslim video, which depicts Mohammed as a womanizer and murderer, among other things, is said to have set off a wave of anti-American attacks in Libya, where U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others were killed earlier this week, violence that has spread to other Middle Eastern countries like Egypt, Yemen and Bangladesh.

YouTube has blocked access to the video in Egypt and Libya, but earlier this week said that the video was within its guidelines, according to its reports, and remains available on its site in the U.S.

Update 6:15 p.m. ET: Reuters reports that Google, which owns YouTube, has rejected the administration's request to pull the film clip from its site, though it is censoring it in India and Indonesia because of local law.