Telecom minister Kapil Sibal is insistent on the internet companies screening the contents for derogatory, defamatory and inflammatory comments and photographs before being hosted on their social media sites.

Talking to media persons in New Delhi a day after he delivered a stern message to the representatives of Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo! Sibal said that though his government was not in favour of interfering in their affairs such material against religious figures and Indian leaders like prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was certainly not acceptable.

He said he told the internet companies in no uncertain terms to evolve a mechanism to ensure that such contents didn’t find their way on the web sites and removed as soon as they get to know of it. “I have told them this cannot go on," he said, adding that he had warned of ‘stern action’ if his directives were not followed.

“We have to take care of the sensibility of people. It is our duty to protect their sensibility and the government will not allow religious sentiments of a particular community to be hurt by such kind of material on internet”, he said pointing to derogatory photographs of a religious figure.

It is learnt that the minister also took strong exceptions to the morphed photographs of the UPA chairperson and the prime minister on a social media site and a popular trend on the twitter which carries his name with a hashtag named ‘IdiotKapilSibal’.

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Govt asks Google, Facebook to self-regulate content

[PTI] Concerned over objectionable content on social networking sites, the government today made it clear it cannot allow this to go on and has asked internet firms like Google and Facebook to fall in line.

"I suggested that these platforms should evolve a mechanism on their own to ensure that such contents are removed as soon as they get to know of it... I have told them that this cannot go on.

"I believe that no reasonable person, aware of the sensibilities of a large section of the communities in this country, would wish to see this in the public domain," Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters here.

Asking these firms to evolve a mechanism and come back with a solution, Sibal said, "This government does not believe in either directly or indirectly interfering in the freedom of the press."

The content posted on some of the sites, the minister said, was so offensive that it would hurt the religious sentiments of a large section of communities in the country.

These contents would also offend any reasonable person looking at those images.