In a vast country like India, social networking plays a vital tool to pass on good and equally bad too. In a bid to restrict access and spread of wrong, the government is keen.

The looming controversy on the misuse of internet, ever since the Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, in December announced that content regulation for social networking sites, such as Facebook, Google, Twitter etc, was necessary.  The controversy blew out of proportions with both the sides arguing for and against the regulations. The social protagonists say it is curtailing their freedom of speech but the government ascertains that country’s harmony is at stake. Neither of them could be neglected nor ignored.

But country’s harmony is more important for any intellectual as India is a secular nation and our emphasis has always been `Unity in Diversity.’ Going on the internet misuse, the government argument got a node from Delhi court to proceed against the sites including Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google unless they take steps to eliminate “offensive and objectionable” content.

The Centre gave the green signal to proceed against all the accused persons heading 21 websites that were allegedly hosting objectionable content. "Government is satisfied that there is sufficient material to proceed against the accused persons under several sections of the IPC," said the government report submitted to a Delhi court. The centre says these websites have been promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration. "The sanctioning authority has personally gone through the entire records and materials produced before him and after considering and examining the same, he is satisfied that there is sufficient material to proceed against the accused persons under section 153-A, 153-B and 295-A of the IPC," the Centre said in its report placed before Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar.

But the council of the one of the websites feels such interference is not practical.  “No human interference is possible and, moreover, it can’t be feasible to check such incidents,” Mukul Rohatgi, a lawyer for Google India, told the High Court hearing.

It may be noted the court had on December 23 discussed issuing summons to 21 social networking websites for allegedly committing offences of criminal conspiracy, sale of obscene books and sale of obscene objects to young persons. (AarKay)