10,000 Muslims rally outside Google’s London HQ over US-made anti-Islam film: report

July 31, 2016

By Kristin Deasy

As many as 10,000 British Muslims converged on Google's London office today to demand the removal of US-made anti-Islam footage that sparked anger throughout the Islamic world after it was uploaded online in Arabic last month, reported Britain's The Telegraph.

The 14-minute video, part of the allegedly forthcoming "Innocence of Muslims" film, set off a violent protest outside the US embassy in Libya on September 11 that lead to the deaths of three people, including the US ambassador. Similar demonstrations were seen in front of US consulates throughout the Middle East and Asia last month.

Protesters want Google, which owns YouTube, to permanently block the film. Governments in many Muslim-majority nations have already done so, but organizers told The Telegraph today that they demand action from Google. They aim to follow today's event with a planned million-strong rally in London's Hyde Park.

And thenceforth, the world, according to protest organizer Masoud Alam, who told The Telegraph today that the "next protest will be at the offices of Google and YouTube across the world."

"Until it is banned," he said, "we will keep protesting."

"This is not freedom of expression, there is a limit for that," Alam said. "This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed."

The London protest comes days after the head of Al-Qaida called on Muslims to unite in a holy war against the US and Israel over the California-made film.

The US has attempted to distance itself from the offending footage, believed made by Egyptian-born American Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who is now in police custody on unrelated charges.

However, US efforts have been complicated by the fact that governments in many of the nations outraged over the film directly intervene in the film industry and are involved in clearing or censoring most productions — a distinction not well understood in the region.