Appeals court orders YouTube to take down anti

'Innocence of Muslims' the controversial film that ignited international protest, was ordered to be removed from Google's video service.

(Credit: YouTube)

Google must remove a controversial anti-Islamic film from YouTube, after a US Appeals court ordered it to do so on Wednesday.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 that taking down the film did not constitute a prior restraint on speech -- Google's argument for initially refusing to remove the film.

The video, 'Innocence of Muslims,' has incited international outrage, and has sparked protests around the world. Its surfacing online also coincided with the killing of a US ambassador to Libya in 2012.

The suit was originally brought on by Cindy Lee Garcia, who starred in the film. Garcia asserted that she had been hired to act in a different film, and that the footage was used in a movie that was unrecognizable to the one she originally signed on to do. In a particularly controversial scene, another voice had been dubbed over her footage, asking, 'Is your Mohammed a child molester?' Legally, Garcia claimed that she was able to individually copyright her performance in the film.

'Ordering YouTube and Google to take down the film was the right thing to do,' Cris Armenta, Garcia's lawyer, told Reuters. 'The propaganda film differs so radically from anything that Ms. Garcia could have imagined when the director told her that she was being cast in the innocent adventure film.'

Garcia said she'd received death threats, and Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski remarked on the case as rare and troubling, according to Reuters.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. We'll update this post if we hear back.