After blocking it from the site for months, Google has finally allowed a trailer for a forthcoming movie about the Columbine school shooting to run on YouTube, The Hollywood Reporter said on Friday.
“The movie, I’m Not Ashamed, is the true story of Rachel Joy Scott, the first victim killed by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris when they attacked their fellow students in Columbine, Colorado in 1999,” THR said.
The high-school senior reportedly was questioned about her Christian faith before being fatally shot in the head by gunman Eric Harris.
In addition to banning the video, YouTube had also removed the account owned by the film’s production company, Pure Flix, which describes itself on its website as “a Christian movie studio that produces, distributes, and acquires Christ centered movies for the sole purpose of changing our culture for Christ, one heart at a time.”
According to THR, producers for “I’m Not Ashamed” complained that for nearly a year, YouTube ignored their inquiries asking for why the film trailer was banned and that “their channel was finally reinstated only after The Hollywood Reporter contacted YouTube this week.”
“YouTube is an information monopoly that controls what people see. Google should be forced to sell it because they are skewing what people can see and do. This is ridiculous,” producer Chuck Howard complained, THR reported.
For its part, Google denied in a Thursday statement that there was an intent by the company to censor Christian-themed content, essentially blaming YouTube users who flagged the video improperly as offensive.
“With the massive volume of videos on our platform, sometimes we make the wrong call on content that is flagged by our community. When this is brought to our attention, we review the content and take appropriate action, including restoring videos or channels that were mistakenly removed,” said the San Francisco-based internet giant, THR reported.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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