Italy to charge Google execs over video taunting incident
July 25th, 2008From the Wall Street Journal (registration required), Reuters:
The Wall Street Journal reports that Italian prosecutors are preparing to file charges against four Google executives over a video that showed a teen with disabilities being taunted by peers.
The 191-second video, which was shown on the Internet provider’s Italian-language site, was shot in a classroom in Turin and showed four youths making fun of the teenager and hitting him in the head with a pack of tissues, according to legal documents.
The newspaper reports that prosecutors will press charges of defamation and violation of privacy against the executives for allegedly failing to adequately control the content of the site.
Stefano Hesse, head of corporate communications for Google in southern Europe, told the newspaper there is no basis for legal action aginst the four men because they had no involvement in the video incident. He said Google removed the video within hours of being notified of its existence in September 2006.


