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Telecoms and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal met executives from Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft on Monday to ask them to screen content, but no agreement with the companies was reached, he said.
Sibal denied he was promoting censorship and said some of the images and statements on social media sites risked fanning tensions in India.
A New York Times reported Monday that Sibal called executives about six weeks ago, showed them a Facebook page that maligned ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi and told them it was unacceptable.
The government is sensitive to criticism of the Gandhi family. Last year there were moves to block the English translation of a Spanish novel about Sonia Gandhi's life.
We have to take care of the sensibilities of our people, we have to protect their sensibilities. Our cultural ethos is very important to us, Sibal told reporters on Tuesday.
Sibal said his ministry was working on guidelines for action against companies who did not respond to the government's requests, but did not specify what action could be taken.
We'll certainly evolve guidelines to ensure that such blasphemous material is not part of content on any platform, Sibal said.
India's largely unrestricted Internet access stands in contrast to tight controls in fellow Asian economic powerhouse China. But in line with many other government's around the world, India has become increasingly edgy about the power of social media.
India's bloggers and Twitter users scorned the minister's proposals, saying a prefiltering system would limit free expression and was impossible to implement.
The idea of prescreening is impossible. How will they do it?...There is no technology currently that determines whether content is 'defamatory' or 'offensive', India-based cyber security expert Vijay Mukhi told Reuters.
The New York Times report, which Sibal did not confirm or deny, was the focus of much of the online anger directed at the minister on Tuesday.
The government was taken aback in the summer by an anti-corruption campaign that multiplied on Facebook and Twitter, drawing tens of thousands of people to street protests and forcing the government to agree to new anti-graft laws.
Last year, as part of a broader electronic security crackdown, Indian security agencies demanded access to communications sent through highly secure BlackBerry devices of Canadian smartphone maker Research In Motion.
RIM gave India access to its consumer services, including its Messenger services, but said it could not allow monitoring of its enterprise email.
Facebook said it recognised the government's wish to minimise the amount of offensive content on the web. The California-based company said it removes content that violates company rules on nudity and inciting violence and hatred.
(We) will continue to engage the Indian authorities as they debate this important issue, Facebook said in a statement.
Yahoo India declined to comment and Google said it would comment later in the day.
India now has 100 million Internet users, less than a tenth of the country's population of 1.2 billion. It is the third-largest user base behind China and the United States. It is seen swelling to 300 million users in the next three years.
During last year's clampdown, officials also said Google and Skype would be sent notices to set up local servers to allow full monitoring of email and messenger communications.
Britain also faced criticism last month for considering curbs on social media after recent riots even as Foreign Secretary William Hague castigated countries that block the Internet to stifle protests.
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Hi, Punch into google search HER MAJESTY SONIA%u2019S SERVANT SIBAL WANTS INTERNET CENSORSHIP. Hullo QUEEN BEE-- Enough is enough! CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL ..
Congress has thrived so far based on successful passing of misinformation about opposition through regular media channel such as TV, and newspapers. No matter how good Anna saheb, Ramdev, Kiran Bedi, Abdul Kalam Azad etc, did, through selective media (paid in kind with ads) Congress keeps tarnishing their image. However Internet based media is a different animal! Congress cannot pay their corrupt money to the vast net, and hence people communicate freely, and without censorship. Why is Congress allergic to truth? It appears that we are going back to Indira Gandhi's emergency days!
Kapil Sibbal, why don't you do something about governance instead of trying to gag free speech ? I think you and your types (read congress) are really scared of people who call spade a spade. Instead of good governance, all you can do is to curb free speech. Are you not ashamed of yourself?
What a silly Question to ask Sibbal. No He - Sibbal is not ashamed of himself. He will walkdown Rajpath, with out a stich, and of course with out shame, if toldby his gori madame to do so. He has permanently deleted the word shame from his dictionary, so that he need not feel ashamed of himself.
Gone are the old days that people like Kapil Sibal, Sonia Gandhi and Karunidhi escaped the gaze of the public whom they promsed to serve. In stead of preaching Microsoft or Yahoo or Google to screen the messages, let these so called psudeo leaders follow the principles enshrined in our Holy scriptures that our founding father Mahatma Gandhi scrupulously followed. Kapil Sibal lost all his credibility when he made the statement that the Government did not lose a single paisa in the 2G scandal. Had it not been for the electronic media, Kapil Sibal's bluff would not have been exposd. By restricting the right to free expression, Kabil Sibal wants to perpertuate corruption at high places which is the root cause for all the internal problems in India. It is also important that individuals in the name of freedom of spech should not use abusive and hateful language against a particular religion or a particular individual.
There is very urgent need to curb the inflammatory and hate spreading communication in the social websites.Some people have taken the freedom of free speech to publish all kinds of obscenity on every one with out any kind of justification.My point is not that every one should support only one party or a particular individual.But one should not cross the limit of decency in ones comments.If one doesn't restrain, it gives the powers enough reason in bringing curbs thus risking the very freedom which one enjoys now.More over the people who are spreading such frivolous comments are not the ones who are actively engaged in any kind of service to the people. They enjoy chaos and disruptions.
%u201CWe have to take care of the sensibilities of our people" Mr. Sibal, would you please care to explain who are these people? I will hazard a guess, does the name start with G?
If one reads the line between it is not the majority of the nation is material to them but only sonia. They feel the pain only if sonia is painful but not the common. It is the nemesis of this citizenry to elect such leaders to goad them from back. We have become such senseless
Sibal if you look into Arabia to Libya people who not seen freedom for last 60 years are actively using this media to fight for their rights, aspiration and freedom. Here we Indians earned the freedom because of great sacrifices by our forefathers. You are elected for few years to serve the nation in right way. You have been elected to protect the freedom of the people , the rights of the people and welfare of the people. You dont seem to get this. You have resign and go home.
Send this Minister home. Indians no more need his Service. All Indians, please stop his Salary. He is no more our Servant. Appoint another Servant who is Honest, Obedient and Listens to us. Bharat Mata Ki Jai.
I wonder how most of us behave if some offensive stuff or morphed pictures of our family and friends appear on the net.Am sure our definitions would really change if that were to happen.And what of the stigma attached to it.How will you answer people who make fun of you knowing well that it is false stuff.The media has a vested interest in pillioring the Govt.Wake up India!Stand up for what is right.Imagine our country 50 yrs ago.What are the values we espouse.Will Gandhiji approve of most of the stuff on the net today?Will our parents and grandparents and children,if they really knew the truth approve of it?
Dear Fellow citizens of poll-bound states: Donot vote corrupt and dictatorial Congress. We have to remove this fascist Congress party from power in Delhi. Else, it will not allow us freedom, peace, deevelopment. To protect their corrupt masters, corrupt Congress finds new ways to subjugate us. We must liberate ourselves and rule our nation. We do not need foreign monarchy to rule us.
India is a democratic country.People have freedom of speech and expression.Don't act like a extrimist.
Sibbal and Congress family loyalist do not understand how much an educated person hates the dynastic rule imposed by spineless ongressmen on us.Due to ilitteracy in country these Netas are winning elections and educated people feel frustrated and some of them even do not vote.All this is reflected in the derogatory and abusing comment on net.But as all citizens have developed tolerance for others hard views Congress Netas should also learn to ignore them.They should also introspect how Indians feel when their tall leaders talk in utter sycofancy regarding Nehru Gandhi family including Jamaijee.
Mr. Sibal come up with such argument which can be defined any way and censored the freedom of speech. In time of emergency, the government of the time use the similar excuse to restrain the freedom. If the truth is there, it does not matter who get offended. In name of offensive content one can not force others to refrain from the telling the truth. The votebank politics of the congress party has lead the nation in the wrong directions.
Kapil Sibal is afraid of our words on internet. I mean, they censor your words when they're scared of it. So, he has come up with the super idea of being a censor on internet. So, you must know that a censor is an expert in cutting remarks. A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to. But this American stooge should remember what Her Highness Henry Clinton has to say on this, " Both the American people and nations that censor the internet should understand that our government is committed to helping promote internet freedom." This might make him see reason that he can't censor people's thoughts.
WHAT MR.SIBAL WANTS IS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE, RATHER COMING DAYS WILL PROVE THAT MORE SUCH OFFENSIVE COMMENTS WILL EMERGE.
Dude, first you should tell that to NDTV, CNN-IBN, Zee TV and many more Indian media channels and also Indian press. First you do not have proper self regulation in your own media and how foolish you ask others to do it! Watch your own backyard dude!
If someone can threaten to burn a copy of quran in US and govt can only plead him not to do.. why do indians do not have the same lvl of freedom? are we not intelligent enough to understand the motive behind such acts?
WHATS WRONG IN REGULATING ABUSIVE LANGUAGE, HATE MESSAGES DIRECTED TOWARD ANY RELIGION (ALTHOUGH I AM NO FAN OF ORGANISED RELIGION WHICH I CONSIDER BIGGEST DIVISIVE FORCE IN THE WORLD) AND PORNOGRAPHY ON SOCIAL MEDIA? ALL MAJOR MEDIA COMPANY WEBSITE IN INDIA DO THAT. IN ANY CASE ITS AGAINST THE LAWS IN INDIA. ITS A STORM IN A TEA CUP. APPRECIATE FACEBOOK'S POSITIVE, PRIMARILY RESPONSE.