A judge in Italy incriminated three top executives of Google after they were held accountable for the release of a video showing an autistic teenager being bullied.

In the United States, reactions to the verdict were strong and almost unanimous calling the ruling as a threat to freedom on the Internet.

Prosecutor Alfredo Robledo of Milan was satisfied with the outcome as he voiced out concerns similar to that of European leaders saying that individuals must be protected first before a business.

The charges originated when Vivi Down, an advocacy organization for people with Down syndrome, complained a video posted in Google Video in 2006 that featured an autistic boy being thrown objects at and being called “mongoloid” by classmates.

Google acquired YouTube and replaced Google Video in 2007.

Robledo emphasized during the trial that the video was seen by more than 5,500 viewers in a span of two months and made its way to the top of “most entertaining” video list of Google Italy.

The three convicted to violating privacy laws of Italy were Peter Fleischer, the company’s global privacy counsel, David Drummond, senior vice president and chief legal officer, and George Reyes, retired chief financial officer. They were each given a six-month suspended sentence.

A fourth defendant was named and charged for defamation but Arvind Desikan, senior product marketing manager who is based in London, was acquitted along with the three previously mentioned.

All four denied any wrongdoing on their part.

Google has called the judge’s decision as an attack to the freedom that is the essence of the Internet in the first place.

Even though it was obvious that the executives did not take part in taking and uploading the video, they were still held liable as leaders of the company.

All of the three convicted showed disappointment claiming that the ruling was unfair considering the video was done by irresponsible teenagers.

They argued that they took the video off two hours after they were notified by the Italian police. Google also said that if not for the video being published, the bullies would not have been punished. The four teenagers who bullied the autistic teen have been sentenced to community service by a juvenile court.

Judge Oscar Magi who handles the Google case is set to issue a written ruling later.

Google reiterates that even after the indictment, the company has no plans of leaving Italy.