Facebook, Google Among Websites Charged In India For “Offensive & Objectionable” Content

21 social networking companies – including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo – are set to face legal charges in India for carrying “offensive and objectionable” material on their websites, reported Bloomberg BusinessWeek on Saturday, after prosecutors deemed the companies responsible for “promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration.”

21 social networking companies – including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo – are set to face legal charges in India for carrying “offensive and objectionable” material on their websites, reported Bloomberg BusinessWeek on Saturday, after prosecutors deemed the companies responsible for “promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration.”

In December last year, India’s Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal had reportedly told the media about repeated attempts to get major Internet companies to come up with a voluntary method to keep offensive material off their sites, though the companies eventually told him there was nothing they could do.

Last Friday, the federal government then informed a New Delhi court that there had now been sufficient enough evidence to file legal proceeding against the 21 companies, with company officials summoned to face court appearances on March 13.

[quote]“It appears from a bare perusal of the documents that the accused, in connivance with each other and other unknown persons, are selling, publicly exhibiting, and have put into circulation obscene, lascivious content”, said a Delhi court magistrate, as cited by NDTV.[/quote]

Justice Suresh Kait, of the Delhi High Court, also warned that India, “like China, could block all such websites,” from its national servers unless the companies “develop a mechanism to keep a check and remove offensive and objectionable material from their web pages.”

The “offensive and objectionable material” in question include content that appear to insult numerous Indian leaders as well as major religious figures. One such illustration allegedly shows Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi in compromising positions, while another image shows pigs running through the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

Although none of the companies chose to comment immediately after last Friday’s court proceedings, Facebook said last month that it would remove content that “is hateful, threatening, incites violence or contains nudity.”

Google added that it would remove any content that violates local law and its own standards.

[quote]“But when content is legal and doesn’t violate our policies, we won’t remove it just because it’s controversial, as we believe that people’s differing views, so long as they’re legal, should be respected and protected,” said a company statement in December.[/quote]

Both Google and Facebook are understood to have filed an appeal with the Delhi High Court in order to challenge the summons issued. Their appeal will be heard today.