UPDATED, 7:50 PM: The Motion Picture Association of America tonight struck back at accusations from the tech giant that it was seeking to “censor” the Internet and suppress free speech based on information from emails leaked in the Sony hacking. “Google’s effort to position itself as a defender of free speech is shameful,” an MPAA spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline tonight (read the full statement below).

A Google executive in a blog post earlier Thursday lambasted the studio lobby group and some of Hollywood’s heavyweights for an alleged program that they had instituted called “Project Goliath.” The so-called secret tactic was revealed late last week in communications that came out of the massive hacking of Sony that went public November 24. Best to just let this war or words speak for itself. Here’s the MPAA’s response:

“Google’s effort to position itself as a defender of free speech is shameful. Freedom of speech should never be used as a shield for unlawful activities and the internet is not a license to steal. Google’s blog post today is a transparent attempt to deflect focus from its own conduct and to shift attention from legitimate and important ongoing investigations by state attorneys general into the role of Google Search in enabling and facilitating illegal conduct – including illicit drug purchases, human trafficking and fraudulent documents as well as theft of intellectual property. We will seek the assistance of any and all government agencies, whether federal, state or local, to protect the rights of all involved in creative activities.”

PREVIOUSLY, 2:29 PM: Sony may have pulled the plug on The Interview as a response to the massive hacking of the studio, but a certain tech giant today has a digital bone to pick with that company and the rest of Hollywood. “We are deeply concerned about recent reports that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) led a secret, coordinated campaign to revive the failed SOPA legislation through other means, and helped manufacture legal arguments in connection with an investigation by Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood,” Google’s SVP and General Counsel Kent Walker said in a blog post Thursday.

News of what has been called “Project Goliath” emerged in emails that were leaked out from the Sony hack that was revealed on November 24. It appears to be a tactic against Silicon Valley’s biggest by Universal, Sony, Fox, Paramount, Disney, Warner Bros and their lobby group the MPAA to revive the failed anti-piracy Stop Online Piracy Act of 2011. The plan seems to have been, from the leaked emails, to get state attorneys General to swarm Goliath with bad press and court action.

“While we of course have serious legal concerns about all of this, one disappointing part of this story is what this all means for the MPAA itself, an organization founded in part ‘to promote and defend the First Amendment and artists’ right to free expression’,” added the Google exec’s post Thursday. “Why, then, is it trying to secretly censor the Internet?”

The MPAA had no comment on the Google exec’s remarks.

Related North Korea Behind Massive Cyber Attack Against Sony, Feds Say

Here is Walker’s full blog post: