Facebook, Google users should be censored: India

binjaitech--India, the world’s largest democratic country has urged social network companies including Facebook, Twitter and Google to pre-screen content before posting it.

India’s acting Telecommunications Minister, Kapil Sibal has asked them to censor their content and remove any defamatory or disparaging content before it goes online.

India has also told internet giants Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Yahoo to block online content that risks offending “Indian sensibilities”.

Government officials are upset about web users posting derogatory comments about Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and major religious figures.

Kapil Sibal said Tuesday that if Facebook and Google cannot censor derogatory statements on their sites, the government will have to step in. He said his ministry was working on guidelines for action against companies which did not respond to the government’s requests, but did not specify what action could be taken.

Kapil Sibal told a press conference he had met with the companies’ representatives several times over the past three months and have repeatedly asked officials from major internet companies to voluntarily censor some users’ comments. The internet companies told Sibal they worked to US norms. The minister called for them to adapt instead to local standards.

Kabil Sibal has met with the Indian executives most recently on Monday. No agreement, however, emerged between the parties.

The minister wants to ensure that “insulting material” never gets uploaded. He wants internet companies to “give us the data, where these images are being uploaded and who is doing it.”

Facebook responded in a statement Tuesday that it would remove content that “is hateful, threatening, incites violence or contains nudity.”

“We recognize the government’s interest in minimizing the amount of abusive content that is available online and will continue to engage with the Indian authorities as they debate this important issue,” the social network said.

Google and Microsoft declined to comment. According to Google, the Indian government has made 68 requests this year to remove or block content. The government has also expressed concerns that Google Earth could be used by terrorists to examine targets in preparation for an attack. truthdive