NEW DELHI--Google Inc.
GOOG -0.24%
and Facebook Inc.
FB +4.80%
said Tuesday they are working on requests from India to remove from
their web sites "inflammatory and hateful content" that New Delhi blames
for sparking a mass exodus of people from several cities.
Tens of
thousands of panic-stricken
students and workers from northeast left
for home last week, spurred by rumors they would be attacked in
retaliation for communal violence in Assam, a northeastern state, that
left at least 78 people dead.
India on Monday blocked as many as 245 Web pages for hosting video
clips and other content that the authorities said were distorted and
were used for spreading the rumors.
The government is wary of social networks being misused for inciting
violence and has asked companies including Google, Facebook, Twiter Inc.
and Microsoft Corp.
MSFT -0.52%
to remove such content from their websites.
Facebook, which has
about 50 million users in India, acknowledged receiving the requests and
said it is working through those requests and responding to the
agencies.
"Facebook will remove content which breaches our terms," as defined in its agreement with its users, it said in a statement.
The U.S.-based company said it is encouraging its users to flag such
content through its website "so that we can investigate and take action
fast."
Search-engine giant Google, which provides services such as YouTube
and Orkut said: "We understand the gravity of the situation... and
continue to work closely with relevant authorities."
Content intended to incite violence is prohibited on all Google products, the company said in a statement.
Twitter and Microsoft didn't offer any immediate comments.
According to India, some of these content have been uploaded from
outside the country, mostly from Pakistan, and it wants the
social-networking sites to take quick action to block them.
"...a lot more and quicker action is expected from them
(social-networking sites) to address such a sensitive issue which
concern restoring peace, harmony, public order and national security,"
India's Department of Electronics & Information Technology said in a
statement, and added that it is working with these companies to deal
with the situation.
India has been pushing Internet firms, especially social-networking
websites, to censor content. However, they have refused to do so, citing
local information technology laws that protect them from liability for
content posted by users.
In a separate case, Google, Facebook and some other websites are
facing criminal charges in a New Delhi court for hosting, what Indian
authorities call "objectionable content." Senior executives of these
companies are scheduled to appear in the trial court on Sept. 22 to face
charges in this case.
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