Citing consistency with a 2007 policy for controversial content, Web-search giant Google said on Friday that it does not intend complying with a White House request to reconsider its decision on a controversial YouTube clipping which has fuelled anti-US protests in the Middle East.

Asserting its decision to keep the controversial video online despite White House's request to the company to review the video status, Google said that a 2007 policy allows the company to take cultural norms into consideration, along with laws and its own policies.

With the anti-Islam video having led to violent protests in Middle East because it depicts the Prophet Mohammad as a fraud and philanderer, Google said that the controversial video had already been blocked in Egypt and Libya
- where it had resulted in "very sensitive situations" - on Wednesday; and was now being censored in India and Indonesia, which has laws in place to restrict enmity-provoking content.

Drawing attention to the YouTube terms of service pertaining to hate speech, Google said it had ascertained that the video was not in violation of any terms of service, since it was against Islam as a religion and not against Muslim people.

Noting that the controversial YouTube clip was being restricted in compliance with local laws in some countries rather than bowing to political pressure, Google said that access to the video had been blocked in the mentioned countries; and added: "This approach is entirely consistent with principles we first laid out in 2007."