Will not remove any material just because it is controversial: Google
NEW DELHI: Beside the controversy over content regulation online, on Tuesday Internet search giant Google India said it complies with the law of the land but will not remove any material just because it is controversial.
A Google spokesperson said, “We work really hard to make sure that people have as much access to information as possible, while also following the law. This means that when content is illegal, we abide by local law and take it down.
“And even where content is legal but breaks or violates our own terms and conditions we take that down too, once we have been notified about it.”
“But when content is legal and does not violate our policies, we will not remove it just because it is controversial, as we believe that people’s differing views, so long as they are legal, should be respected and protected,” the spokesperson added.
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal asked social websites like Google and Facebook to ensure that uploading of derogatory material online is stopped. He said the government does not want to interfere but if social networking sites are not willing to cooperate, “then it is the duty of the government to think of steps that we need”.
Sibal has said that the content posted on some of the sites was so offensive that it would hurt the religious sentiments of a large section of communities in the country
Over last few weeks the government has met the officials from Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo after offensive materials, particularly against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, were put on the Internet.
