August 28, 2007: The internet portal "YouTube" has
proven to be a popular forum for sharing video clips with
anyone who would care to view them. Unfortunately, "YouTube" is
also proving to be a viable forum for neo-Nazis to disseminate
their hateful propaganda – some of it dating back to
Adolf Hitler's Third Reich era. The availability of this
material has raised the ire of German policians and the Jewish
community in Germany.
A program broadcast by Germany's ARD national television
network revealed a number of neo-Nazis videoclips uploaded to
YouTube. One clip has music describing the torching of a home
for asylum seekers followed by a comic-style quote balloon
saying "Kill them all!". A video glorifying war that
accompanies a song by the right-wing music group "Landser"
["Soldier"] has been downloaded over 400,000 times.
The video considered by many to be the most offensive is the
World War II Nazi film "Jud Süss" ["The Jew Suess"]
produced under the direction of Joseph Goebbels' propaganda
machine. The movie was released in 1940 and was
intended to condition the German people for the additional
persecution of the Jewish people. Although the movie is
about the historical figure Joseph Süß
Oppenheimer (1698-1738), it is not based on the historical
records of the state archives from the region where
Oppenheimer actually lived. After the war the Allies
prohibited the film from being shown. In today's Germany
it may not be distributed and may only be shown with
special permission and must include an appropriate
disclaimer about the content.
According to the ARD report, "www.jugendschutz.net" –
the internet watchdog group responsible for reporting on
material considered to be harmful for youth – has
complained to "YouTube" over 100 times in the last four months
because of the availability of neo-Nazi video clips. When asked
by the ARD about the situation, the vice-president of the
Central Committee of the Jewish Community in Germany, Samuel
Korn, said he "expects prosecutors, government agencies and
even the federal government to take action." According to Korn,
the Central Committee of the Jewish Community is considering
legal action against "YouTube". The neo-Nazi content placed on
"YouTube" has the potential to give Google a black eye in
Germany, since Google owns the internet video portal
"YouTube".