Internet firms meet Sibal; object to online censorship

New Delhi, Dec 15: Union Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on Thursday (today) met internet and social media companies in New Delhi over the ongoing controversy on screening online content. According to an

report, the meeting was a part of e-governance plan on social media to empower citizens.

The report said that Sibal wanted a constructive dialogue with the social media and said that those who log on to the internet should not be fed with elitist point of view.

Meanwhile, all the internet companies on Thursday's (today) meeting, advised the government to set up an independent body comprising of private players for monitoring offensive content and objected to the government's proposal of censorship of web content. The Telecom Minister had said that some contents in the social media are objectionable and could hurt religious sentiments of people of the country.

The Meeting was attended by Minister of State for Communication and IT, Sachin Pilot as well as Department of Telecom Secretary K Chandrashekhar.

Earlier, Sibal had met representatives of Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo where he had requested them to screen the derogatory and defamatory contents regarding religious figures and political leaders.

OneIndia News