Google and Facebook remove content in India

Google and Facebook have complied with orders from the India government by removing pages that are deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders, which is in compliance with a court case which raised censorship fears in what is deemed to be the world’s largest democracy. The Indian government has, for the past weeks, exerting enormous pressure on 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text that have been considered “anti-religious” or “anti-social.” Facebook, Google, YouTube and Blogspot in addition to other sites have a fortnight to cobble together future plans that will enable a greater policing of their networks.

With over 100 million Internet users, the Indian government claims that US Internet standards are not acceptable. According to Communications Minister Sachin Pilot, “There is no question of any censorship. They all have to operate within the laws of the country. … There must be responsible behavior on both sides.” Well, what do you think of the entire situation? With Thailand being the first country to embrace Twitter’s new direction that allows a certain degree of censorship, depending on the country, will India be next?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Computers
Tags: censorship, Facebook, Google