Google India Removes Websites Deemed Offensive By the Gov’t
- Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:03pm by
Liz Klimas
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NEW DELHI (The Blaze/AP) — With Google stating just last week that it would block content on its blog platform in certain countries while keeping it viewable in others others — Twitter also announced a similar protocol – Google India has reportedly removed web pages deemed offensive to Indian political and religious leaders.
This action is to comply with a court case that has raised censorship fears in the world’s largest democracy and follows weeks of intense government pressure for 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text considered “anti-religious“ or ”anti-social.”
A New Delhi court Monday gave Facebook, Google, YouTube and Blogspot and the other sites two weeks to present further plans for policing their networks, according to the Press Trust of India.
For India’s more than 100 million Internet users, the government says, U.S. Internet standards are not acceptable.
The case highlights the difficulty India faces in balancing conservative religious and political sentiments with its hope that freewheeling Internet discourse and technology will help spur the economy and boost living standards for its 1.2 billion people.
Google India did not say Monday which sites were removed but had said it would be willing to go after anything that violated local law or its own standards.
Indian officials have been incensed by material insulting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and religious groups, including illustrations showing Singh and Gandhi in compromising positions and pigs running through Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
“There is no question of any censorship,” Communications Minister Sachin Pilot said in Bangalore. “They all have to operate within the laws of the country. … There must be responsible behavior on both sides.”
Anyone hurt by online content should be able to seek legal redress, he said. The government has warned it has evidence to prosecute 21 sites for offenses of “promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration.”
The government has asked the sites to set a voluntary framework to keep offensive material off the Internet.
Facebook India submitted a compliance report to the court Monday, but it also joined Yahoo and Microsoft in questioning its inclusion in the case, saying no specific complaints had been presented against them, PTI reported. The sites did not immediately comment after the hearing.
Prosecutors, who sued on behalf of a Muslim religious leader who accused companies of hosting pages that disparage Islam, said they would provide the companies with all relevant documents. The court gave the companies 15 more days to report back.
India is Facebook’s third-fastest growing market, after the U.S. and Indonesia. The California-based company, with $3.7 billion in revenues last year, has seen its hoped-for launch in China held back by rules requiring censorship of material seen by the Chinese government as objectionable or obscene.
The issue of country-specific censorship sparked global outcry in recent weeks, after Twitter said it would allow tweets to be deleted in countries where the content breaks local law.
Twitter insisted the new policy would help freedom of expression and transparency by preventing the entire site from being blocked. But dissidents and activists who have embraced Twitter in their campaigns accused the site of betraying free speech.
Similarly, Google said last week that censoring content on its blog platform will “allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law.”
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LovinUSA
Posted on February 7, 2012 at 3:44pmHey Google, seeing your being so faithful to the people, by alloeing prying into people business, why don’t you remove your self. Traders.
Report Post »I have deleted and banned you.
Meyvn
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 10:26pmWay lame!
Report Post »babylonvi
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 7:14pmMaybe this wouldn’t be such a bad law here. If “The government has warned it has evidence to prosecute 21 sites for offenses of “promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration.”, they Obama would be arrested and given a ‘LIFE’ sentence at Guantanamo.
Report Post »mike_trivisonno
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 3:39pmAfter centuries of Jihad assaults, the ceding of thousands of square miles of Indian territory, and millions of deaths, it looks as if India is ready to throw in the towel, grab a prayer rug, and begin praying towards Mecca.
Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Kashmir were not sufficient. Allah must have all of India.
Do not forget the ritualist mutilation of victims in the Mumbai attacks of a few years ago.
Report Post »100 Million Patriots Standing
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 4:53pm“…. it would block content on its blog platform in certain countries”"”"”
one country at a time….and then here in the U.S. whenever deemed by Obama and crew.
not if but when….it’s simply a matter of tweeking the protocols.
Report Post »Dinkiecb
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 3:36pmDon’t like what your reading??? Don’t read it… oh wait … that’s to simple
Report Post »Netizen Kane
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 3:21pmHello? U.S. Youtube? It’s already here…..
Report Post »QuranIsCorruptAndMuhammadPossessedBySatan
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 5:26pmMuslims are on a flagging campaign on youtube. They just looooove to upload videos of new idiot Western converts, which they call reverts, and pro-Islamic videos, but if there are videos that are against Islam or Muhammad they flag them.
Muslims hate freedom of speech, but love using false “hate speech” to their advantage. They have freedom of speech, but those who point out Islams mistakes are quickly tagged as hate crimes.
Report Post »Winkycat
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 2:59pmThe issue of Freedom of Speech is a daunting affair. Freedom of Speech does not guarantee that the content of any speech should be inoffensive or that if it offends anyone it goes against the principals of Free speech. If speech never offends anyone then why would anyone need the act of the “freedom” of speech? Freedom implies that any speech by nature will offend someone. It is not up to any Democratic government to put into place what that government deems is offensive or not. That is the “imprisonment of speech”
Report Post »ashestoashes
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 3:22pmREMEMBER SOPA and PIPA..SOPA (loss of freedom of speech on the internet) has been passed but does not go into effect until after the elections.. Homeland security is keeping dosiers on bloggers and journalists and then there is indefinite detention..where they can kidnap you from the street and imprison and torture you at Guantanamo Bay keeping you indefinitely without charges..and it is based solely on their loose interpretation of how much of a threat you are to the establishment agenda..
Report Post »MCDAVE
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 7:33pmI find the Huffington post offensive,but the liberals do have a right to voice there stupidity
Report Post »TRILO
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 2:30pmGovernment censorship coming to a computer near you. Google, Facebook, Twitter are all evil and in bed with communist/socialist dictators. I will not use any of their products.
Report Post »Drum Man
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 2:11pmThis is bad. Berry, berry bad…
Report Post »amerbur
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 1:39pmThis may be enough for some creative individual to find a way to make Google obsolete. Sounds good to me – if they can not stand for freedom then I am not for them.
Report Post »RICHLINK
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:45pmComing to a country near you…
Report Post »ares338
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:42pmComing to America soon!
Report Post »six6six
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 1:45pmComing to America….it’s called the religious right.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:41pmislam is complaining ..again????
Report Post »UBETHECHANGE
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:13pmThis is what tyranny looks like!
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:11pmWe won‘t have to worry about obama’s government blocking anti-religious content here in the U.S.
Report Post »It’s anything pro-religion they will be sure to block.
Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on February 6, 2012 at 1:45pmUnless it’s against islam.
Report Post »