The government on Thursday held a dialogue with social networking firms seeking their views on effective use of these platforms and is also working on guidelines for its own officials on how to make good use of the social media to reach out to wider population.

The discussion came a few days after IT and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal asked Internet firms to ensure that no defamatory and incendiary materail is uploaded. Sibal's remarks sparked a huge controversy.

After today's meeting, the government asserted that there was no question of censorship of Internet.

The government has called for an open dialogue with the social media companies, including Google, Facebook and Twitter, and various government departments, including the Ministry of External Affairs and the Department of Information and Technology, and sought opinions on how social media and e-governance can empower individuals and citizens, Sibal said after the meeting.

Asked whether there was any plan to formulate a mechanism to regulate Internet content, Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communication and IT, said, "There is no question of censorship of Internet.

"Whatever law has to me made are already in place. The Government of India is committed to abiding by what is there according to the Constitution of India which is freedom of speech and expression. We protect that with a lot of energy," he said.

Sibal said this discussion and this dialogue is about how the social media can empower the government, because under the normal processes of the government, there is always a limited dialogue with representatives of society as the means are limited.

Asked by when the guidelines will be finalised for the government servants on how to make use of social networking platform to reach out to a wider population, Telecom Secretary R Chandrashekhar said that the government is in the process and it will be out very soon.