Amid the raging controversy over content regulation online, Internet search giant Google India on Tuesday said it complied with the law of the land but would not remove any material just because it was controversial.
“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,” a Google spokesperson said.
“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.
Search engine giant Yahoo! refused to comment on the views of Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal that uploading of derogatory material should be stopped, while Microsoft officials were not available for comment.
Social networking site Facebook, which has more than 25 million users in the country, has said it would remove any content that was hateful, threatening and incited “violence” or contained nudity off the service.
“We will remove any content that violates our terms, which are designed to keep material that is hateful, threatening, incites violence or contains nudity off the service.
“We recognise the government's interest in minimising the amount of abusive content that is available online and will continue to engage with the Indian authorities as they debate this important issue,” Facebook said in a statement.
The statement added: “We want Facebook to be a place where people can discuss things freely, while respecting the rights and feelings of others, which is why we already have policies and on-site features in place that enable people to report abusive content.”