YouTube bans terrorist training videos, Lieberman bows

A missive from the office of Joe Lieberman on Thursday credits the Connecticut Senator as the direct reason Google changed its Community Guidelines to disqualify terrorist training videos from being displayed.

In announcing the update earlier this week, the YouTube Blog says "We've updated the Community Guidelines to address some of the most common questions users ask us about inappropriate content. Included in the update are a few new things to steer clear of, like not directly inciting violence or encouraging other users to violate the Terms of Use. "

Senator Lieberman's press office the next day released a statement that said, "YouTube was being used by Islamist terrorist organizations to recruit and train followers via the Internet and to incite terrorist attacks around the world, including right here in the United States, and Google should be commended for recognizing that."

It also claimed the move was "taken in direct response to the Senator's complaints about violent Islamist videos that have been posted."

In May, Lieberman, who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, sent Google's CEO Eric Schmidt a letter asking for the immediate removal of all content produced by Islamist terrorist organizations.

While Lieberman puts stress upon the Islamist organizations, his request also includes what are referred to by the State department as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) -- 42 different militant outfits such as the FARC and AUC in Colombia, the Palestinian Liberation Front, the IRA, and the Communist party of the Phillippines.