YouTube, Google Seek Dismissal of Conservative Group's Censorship Claim

By legally challenging YouTube's restricted mode feature, Conservative group Prager University is trying to turn the private service provider into a public forum regulated by the same constitutional standards that government must follow, defendants Google and YouTube said Friday in a motion to dismiss (in Pacer) filed with U.S. District Court in San Jose, California. They said any restrictions of access to posted videos are protected by the Communications Decency Act. Prager, in its suit (in Pacer) filed in October, said the restricted mode filtering isn't for protecting younger or sensitive viewers "but as a political gag mechanism to silence [it]." Prager counsel didn't comment now.