American technology company, Cisco Systems, has denied Indian media reports that it is helping the government build a firewall to restrict fixed line internet access to restricted websites including social media sites from Jammu and Kashmir once broadband connectivity is restored in the Union Territory.
“Cisco denies reports from India regarding Cisco involvement in restricting access to social media websites. Cisco strongly supports free expression and open communication on the Internet, and our policies and practices are well-established in this area,” a Cisco spokesperson told The Hindu , which had reached out to the company following the reports.
“We build our products to comply with global standards and sell our products globally. We do not customize our products in any way to enable censorship,” the spokesperson said, in response to a question on whether Cisco had separate policies for within and outside the United States.
At least two of the media reports were based on information from government sources.
Cisco, headquartered in San Jose, California, had a turnover of $ 51.9 billion in 2019, 60% of which came from the Americas and 25% from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. India is part of its APJC (Asia Pacific Japan and China) segment, which accounted for 15% of Cisco’s 2019 revenues.
Published - March 04, 2020 03:57 am IST
