(Image source: The Wall Street Journal)

BY MICHAEL COLLINS
ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

Internet giants Facebook and Google have been threatened with legal action in India -- along with 20 other Internet-based corporations. The injunction comes from the Indian government, which has ordered the removal of offensive content from their domains. The Wall Street Journal reports...

“The suit alleges that the companies hosted content that is intolerant of religious communities and that could spark communal unrest in India … ”

According to PC Magazine, the content which incensed the Indian government and religious groups is ...

“ … a series of illustrations that show Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Gandhi in ‘compromising positions,’ as well as another that depict pigs running through the holy city of Mecca ... The latest case has brought into question India's practices regarding censorship for its 100 million Internet users.”

The images, which have been described as obscene, anti-religious and defamatory, have since been taken down. Media outlets and the online community have compared India’s latest blackout to China’s strict online-censorship regime.

“Here’s the key point right here. According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, some search results were not shown.”

So IBNLive asks “is India pulling a China”?

“I think it would be unfair to say that India is doing a China, but I have to say that people in India, in high places, are dangerously flirting with the idea of turning into China.”
 
The injunction could come as a major setback to Facebook. According to Mashable ...

“India, with more than 43 million Facebook users (the second highest in the world) is Facebook’s third-fastest growing market.”
 
Both Google and Facebook believe they are immune the injunctions under India’s 2008 Information Technology Act. With both sides sticking to their guns, sit tight.

 

Politics News

India Threatens Facebook and Google with Legal Action

February 7, 2012
(1:43)
The Indian government has issued an injunction against 22 Internet companies, including Facebook and Google, for offensive, anti-religious content.
   
TRANSCRIPT

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