Even as the controversy over IT minister Kapil Sibal urging social networking sites to censor offensive content rages on, a trial court has directed several sites, including Facebook, Google, Orkut and Youtube, to remove "anti-religious" or "anti-social" content "promoting hatred or communal disharmony".
Administrative civil judge Mukesh Kumar, in an ex-parte order, directed the social networking sites to remove objectionable content in the form of photos, videos or text which might hurt religious sentiments. The court's order came on a civil suit filed by Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi who had submitted the printouts of the contents.
"Taking in consideration the facts and circumstances and nature of the suit filed by the plaintiff (Qasmi) where every time these social networking sites are being used by the public at large and there is every apprehension of mischief in the public, the defendants (websites) are hereby restrained from publishing defamatory articles shown by the plaintiff and contained in the CD filed by the plaintiff immediately on service of this order and notice. Defendants are further directed to remove the same from the social networking sites," said the judge. The court has also issued summons to the sites and fixed the matter for hearing on December 24, 2011.
The petitioner had moved court seeking "permanent and mandatory injunction against 22 websites. He claimed that highly objectionable content by some miscreants was being posted on these websites.
Source:Times Of India
