India wants websites to screen derogatory content

NEW DELHI (AP) — India's top telecommunications official said Tuesday that Internet giants such as Facebook and Google have ignored his demands to screen derogatory material from their sites, so the government would have to take action on its own.

The dispute highlights India's ongoing difficulty in balancing the Internet culture of freewheeling discourse with its homegrown religious and political sensitivities.

Kapil Sibal, India's telecommunications minister, said he spoke repeatedly with officials from major Internet companies over the past three months and asked them to come up with a voluntary framework to keep offensive material off the Internet.

"This is a matter of great concern to us. We have to take care of the sensibility of our people," he said.

In a meeting Monday, the Internet companies told him there was nothing they could do, he said, so the government would formulate a policy on its own. He declined to specify what that policy would be.

"We are seeking their cooperation, and if somebody is not willing to cooperate on incendiary material like this, it is the duty of government to think of steps that we need to take," he said. "We don't want to interfere in freedom of the press, but this kind of material should not be allowed."

Indian media reports said that during the meeting Monday, Sibal specifically told officials from Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft about posts that were insulting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi and major religious figures.

Spokesmen from Google and Microsoft declined to comment on the meeting.

One person with knowledge of the meeting told The Associated Press that the demand was sparked by a Facebook page about Sonia Gandhi. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.

Facebook has three pages titled "I hate Sonia Gandhi," two titled "We hate Sonia Gandhi," and one titled "Manmohan Singh is a puppet of Sonia Gandhi." India has more than 25 million Facebook users.

Before his press conference Tuesday, Sibal showed reporters Web illustrations showing Singh and Gandhi in compromising positions as well as a site showing pigs running through Islam's holy city of Mecca, a clear insult to Muslims.

"I believe that no reasonable person aware of these sensibilities of large sections of communities in this country and aware of community standards as they are applicable in India would wish to see this content in the public domain," he said.

Sibal said the Internet companies had told him that they were applying U.S. standards to their sites, and he objected, saying that they needed to be sensitive to Indian sensibilities.

Rajesh Chharia, president of the Internet Service Providers Association of India, said Internet companies need to be mindful of concerns over national security and national sensitivities.

"I am not favoring censorship — self-regulation is the best censorship available to our system," he said. "We should not do anything which should harm the peace of the country."

India has had conflicts with technology companies in the past over information access, and Sibal said Tuesday that many of the companies have been reluctant to hand over data the government has asked for related to terrorists.

Last year, India threatened to ban the popular corporate e-mail and messenger services on Blackberry devices amid security concerns over access to encrypted information. The government later backed down.

The Indian government has made 68 requests to Google this year to remove content, according to Google. The government has also expressed concerns that Google Earth could be used by terrorists to examine targets in preparation for an attack.

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And WHO is going to define what is acceptable and what is not? What is acceptable in one area may not be in other areas, so how are they going to screen out in only the areas concerned while not affecting other areas? It is basically an impossible task short of banning all contact from outside sources.

 

That's not new.. Congress tried earlier to shut the bloggers by denying access to three the most popular blogging software but after the uproar they had to eat their own shit.

Internet censorship, not gonna happen in India.. It aint fucking China Mr. Sibbal, you may get back to raping the country with new scams now..

 

Absolutely agree with you. The moral police can go fcuk themselves. Who will decide what content is controversial and what is not or is it that anything that targets the ruling party will be deemed controversial. We are almost an oligarchy, the whole democracy seems like a sham. Reading the news about ruling party sycophants going nuts over "the yuvraj", makes me want to puke. The opposition aren't saints either. So what we have is a loosely organized group of hyenas and everything is fair game for them.

 

We do not have a true democracy.. We are presented with 10 monkeys and asked to elect one of them as our representative..

 

Don´t worry, every where is the same shit and face book is no defender of democracy. It wasn´t long ago that they removed a page in regard to Palestine by request of Israeli government.

 

It all started when someone posted weird cartoon related to the congress leader I guess..Seems like they are on the way to becoming China..
The Great firewall of India

 

Nope.. However the fucked up, unlike China, we still have power to kick the governments out..
And most of the people who use Internet are very well aware of their powers and are the vocal one.

 

Itrs better to have communism like china than demcracy like India - fact

 

Are you friggin crazy? What shit are you smoking?

Besides, the fact that you can make such a statement, while being an Indian and residing in India is some what like a proof of how democracy is better than
communism and how it allows you to post or say anything without looking over your shoulder for the secret police.

I can safely bet that posting something like this from China, proposing democracy in a public forum, will get your ass thrown in to jail or worse.

 

Move to China, if you wish..
I prefer Democracy over Communism.. I prefer the freedom to express my opinion, freedom to say fuck government without fear of being thrown in the jail.

And nothing in your statement is a fact..

 

Yes and everyone is happy by just revolting against govt which leads to nothing. The amount of corruption is unbelievable and whatever be the anna hazare revolt or anything nothings gonna happen here. China has a higher population than india but due to the communism belief of everyone being equal it is rising and its economy too. Granted the freedom of speech is supressed in china but it is not as poor as us. Most people who are on the roads with anna dont know what exactly the lokpal bill is, a survey in ht if i am right said that many people find it cool to revolt. And if devolopment is happening at the cost of freedom of speech then be it. We have every fourth person in poverty and what has freedom of speech done. If your sole aim is to say fuck you congress then go ahead but as i said fredom of speech does nothing here. With morons like kapil sibal mayawati lalu etc i would rather prefer wise dictators then these crappy morons.

This thread on your rofile page http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=2249773#post16606481. You already know India so much.Am i talking rocket science.

 

Easy guys..Dont start fighting. Take it as a regular discussion and dont get involved in throwing tantrums at each other if you dont like something..
Peace..

 

No, I do not deny that India is not fucked up as a state but China is not something I look forward to as role model..
You say if Development happens at the cost of freedom then let it be? How fucked up is that?
Benjamin Franklin once said - "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety".. I say they who give up essential liberty to obtain a little anything, deserve nothing..

It's not politicians who are screwing India, it's the people.. People who do not appreciate the freedom and rights, who are ignorant and coward.

If any country I want India to be, I want it to be Sweden or Germany.. Not fucking China..

 

And this is exactly what democracy allows you to do. Flinging random crap and holding or expressing views no matter how fucked up they might be. Can you do it in China? For a change, why do not you move to China and say, "your government sucks".

 

I did not say i want India to be like china. I hate communism. Sooner or later china is going to fall. Communism has never worked. If you write the pros and cons on paper of democracy and communism then yes i go with democracy but practical things are always different than theory and in that case communism in China has proved better than democracy in India. I live in a area surrounded by slums. All congress does before elections is come to the slums, brainwash them, give them a blanket and they vote agin for them. Its so easy to manipulate people here where most are illeterate. Lalu won continuosly for 15 years or something. why? the main aim is that people choose leaders they want but when they cant choose properly then whats the point. I dont know why its so difficult to make you understand this. China has a single govt which has its main purpose as development but here the first thing is to get as much black money as possible and stay in power for which they do evil things like reservation and the extent of it which stops devolopment. I can give you many more points like this. And as a metter of perception i am going to give up my freedom of speech if millions of Indians who stay in poverty, die with disease, live in pathetic areas, beg at red lights etc come head to head with me.
If you cant, no offense your choice.

Thats what i am saying. We aint using this freedom of speech so its almost the same thing. So it better to have a dictator like modi as our PM and make us rise.

Going in circles arent you. I answered this.
1. I dont like china
2. In comparison china has a little higher population than India but its much ahead of india in almost everything except that the fact that the 100th richest person of india has almost same money as fifth richest person of china which is because richer get richer and poor get poor.
3. I dont hate India.
4.Freedom of speech vs a fucked up country with millions living and dying in poverty controlled by morons where no one knows where the country is going. - Ask yourself.
5.Rinse and repeat.

 

I would still take freedom of speech and expression with poverty over dictatorship and tyranny with riches. Hundreds of thousands of Indians suffered and gave up everything along with their lives to get us free from foreign, I for one, will not trade that for anything.

You only see the part of China that they allow the media to see and publish. They censor everything, so we hardly know the ground truth and the living conditions of the majority.

Agreed our country is in a pretty screwed up state, thanks to the misrule and duplication of the system of governance that still harks back to the day of colonial rule. But, tearing everything down and bringing in a dictatorship or military rule will make things worse. For what it may be of worth, now we at least get a chance to change the government every 5 years.

I think the fear of elections and mass , violent uprisings is what stops the politicians from completely ruining the country.

May be the answer lies in a presidential form of government where , the candidate has to prove his worth across all the states and territories in India and we in turn can vote for the exact individual who will lead us. The choosing of the prime minister by the elected representatives and the horse tradings we see after every election is what needs changing.

In the current setup a single good leader can not make a difference since he will always be tied down by his party and the coalition that props him up. So Modi or no Modi, we will continue seeing the mis-rule and mis-governance for the forseeable future, but yes, things will gradually improve.


PS:

Lalu won continuosly for 15 years but where is he now. He lost the last elections and now Bihar is trying to get up on it's feet. In West Bengal the CPI(M) ruled for 35 years, where are they now ? They lost the last elections and the present non communist government is now trying to turn things back. That is the kind of chance you will never get under a dictatorship.

 

You know how they say that the grass is greener on the other side.. Here in India, you think Situation in China is better than India with all that infrastructure and development.. While in China, people living in a suppressed environment, living under fear think that Indians are better with highly developed technical skills, way too better education and freedom.. They prefer freedom over development.

Chinese people know that there are too many poor in India, Indian people know that there are too many poor in China, but poor don't count in either case. Isn't that funny?

Yes politicians do that, yes Lalu won 3 elections.. But The same people that elected Lalu for 2 and a half time, threw him out and kept him away.. Did you know that in the last election Lalu contested from 3 seats and lost 2? Times is changing mate, albeit slow but people are getting aware.. Few days ago my facebook status said - "Lokpal or no lokpal, it's good to see India waking up...finally".. You don't need ever sheep in the heard to wake up, you just need few leaders, sheeps will follow as usual...

LOL... No, Chinese Government's main purpose is NOT development, it is power.. Keep it, retain it, not lose it.. They do all sort of evil things to make sure they do not lose power.. An average Chinese makes a lot less than what probably you make.. What makes you think that China is all glamour? If you count the slums in China, You will lose count... Average Chinese is not better than average Indian. Only those who bribe Govt officials are rich.. If you dare criticize government, you will lose everything, you'll be branded as traitor and will thrown in the jail for rest of life.

That's why I prefer Indian slow development with freedom over Chinese fast development with no freedom.

Modi isn't a dictator, yes he is the best thing that can happen to India and I seriously hope that one day he will lead India.. But I'd rather see him in power through democratic means...

 

From a neutral point of view i would prefer demolishing sheer poverty than bitching about govt.

I mean figuratively. He always wins gujrat elections and does not care much of staying in power. He is treated as a god there in gujrat.

Thats the same thing in China. Why havent they raped the country yet. Thats what i am saying that you rather have wise dictators who wont rape your country even after they know they can do anything rather than indian politicians who rape the country even in the fear of losing next time.

And i dont think Chinas govt is that bad in freedom of speech. Anyway i dont call indian democracy a democracy,its just on paper. A son of politician is a politician. 60% of above average politicians are sons of existing politicians and 90% of above age 20. Thats the same type of rule we had centuries ago with kings. Personally i think congress is the biggest moron, to be honest it is worst than terrorists. From sonia gandhi to lowest congress politician everyone is corrupt. Consider inflation, the biggest reason is corruption. Long ago there was a single tax VAT which said that no other tax will be required but its just one of the other taxes. Sad but true, india is pathetic and freedom of speech has no effect until a common man has some knowledge which we lack profoundly here.

As for slower progress, its slow and even undoubtful. You are happy that Lalu finally lost after fifteen years. It had to happen eventually. Whats the good thing in that. I am tired of repating and rephrasing that freeodm of speech and a fucked up contry like india in almost every field, one would go for former. Also i dont think china is that bad. Would you like to revolt against a govt which has done elatively well.

Sorry to say but India is comepletely fucked up and the slow progress, even middle east countries are doing, do you want people to die with poverty till then. China had the same amount of time and even bigger population but they are wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ahead of us. One can throw hundred excuses but the communism worked there but democracy here did not. The sad thing is that India could have become a superpower and it deserved it.

 

One does have to ask how much easier it would be to get things done when you don't have someone opposing you just because of oppositions sake. ie: we have a 2 party system here and even if one side gets a brilliant idea the other side finds something bad about it to knock it all down, just because they're in opposition.

Though I do agree with The Webby that I prefer the slower approach and the pretend democracy we have now over the thought of being ruled by a monster. It would be good if sometimes, just sometimes, both sides agreed to get 'good' things going.