An Italian court is to decide whether four senior Google executives should face prison, over the broadcast of a video clip showing a boy with Down’s Syndrome being bullied by his classmates.

The long-running trial, which centres around a three-minute clip showing four schoolboys making fun of the teenager and hitting him over the head at their school in Turin, in 2006, is being seen as a test case for the control of content on the internet.

The web giant says the attempts to hold its employees responsible for content posted online is a “direct attack on a free, open Internet”.

The boy’s family has withdrawn the complaint and the four students were suspended from the remainder of their academic year.

However, the Italian court has instead accepted as the plaintiffs both Milan city council and Vivi Down, an association representing the interests of people with Down's syndrome.

Google removed the clip within 24 hours of being alerted of the upload. Prosecution lawyers argue that the broadcast still amounted to a breach of privacy and was defamatory as the company failed to adequately control content on the site.

They say the Google had a "legal obligation to prevent" the video from airing in the first place.

The Google executives standing trial are David Carl Drummond, head of Google Italy's managing board; George De Los Reyes, a board member; Peter Fleitcher, in charge of privacy protection in Europe; and Arvind Desikan, head of videos for Europe.

They each face up to three years in jail and a fine if convicted.

In a closed door session in Milan, the judge heard from an American engineer, Jeremy Doig, who demonstrated how Google Video works. He demonstrated that it is controlled in the United States and that once the video in question was brought to Google's attention it was withdrawn for its inappropriate content.

Giuliano Pisapia, the lawyer representing the search engine, said his testimony proved, “Google had not committed any crime."

Lawyer Guido Camera, who represents Vivi Down, told The Times: “This is a very complex case. The fundamental issue is not what happened after the clip was broadcast, but the [legal] situation that existed before.”

In a statement, released by Google, the company said the case was tantamount to shooting the messenger.

“As we have repeatedly made clear, our heart go out to the victim and his family. We are pleased that as a result of our co-operation, the bullies in the video have been identified and punished.

“However, we feel that bringing this case to court is totally wrong. It’s akin to prosecuting mail service employees for hate speech letters sent in the post. What’s more, seeking to hold neutral platforms liable for content posted on them is a direct attack on a free, open internet. We will vigorously defend our employees in this prosecution.”

EU law does not require Google to monitor third-party content on its sites. But Italian law on the media - television and newspapers as well as the internet - states that content providers are responsible for third-party content.

This raises the question of whether a website is a "publication" for whose content providers are responsible by law in the same way as a TV channel or a newspaper or magazine.

A verdict in the trial is not expected until December 16.

Explore Tech & Web

• Personal Tech

• The Web

• Gadgets & Gaming