In 2006 a video posted to Google-owned YouTube showed footage of a teenager with Down syndrome being bullied in school. Local advocacy groups said that the video had infringed on the privacy rights of the young man and the court agreed. They ruled that Google was responsible for the video being posted in the first place and sentenced three executives with jail sentences.

But the case could have major implications for the way we use the Internet and Google argues that the ruling poses threat to freedom of speech and that the responsibility lies with the user and not their corporation. BBC Rome correspondent, Duncan Kennedy explains the case.