Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - India has asked social network and website operators, like Facebook, Google, Skype and Yahoo, to remove material that is offensive to political leaders and religious groups. The Indian telecommunications minister, Kapil Sibal, has asked to carry out control mechanisms, denying that it is about "censorship". "We have to take care of the sensitivity of our people: our cultural ethos is very important to us," he explained, noting the intent to "ensure that blasphemous material is not to be released on any web platform," talking about "the need to preserve harmony ".
Fr. Charles Irudayam, Secretary of "Justice and Peace Commission" of the Episcopal Conference of India said to Fides: "If we think of the protection of rights and individual freedom, the government's request is very similar to censorship. On the other hand, the authorities have a duty to stop ideologies and terrorist groups that want to destabilize the country, and ensure safety. The border is very thin. It must be said that in India there are many fundamentalist groups that propagate religious hatred through the web. In any case, to really and effectively protect religious harmony, the most urgent step is the approval of the bill to prevent violence against religious minorities, which lies in Parliament, and that we, as Catholic Church, strongly support ".
Today India has 100 million Internet users (out of a population of 1.2 billion). The Indian authorities were taken by surprise in early 2011, when an anti-corruption campaign rapidly multiplied on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other Web sites, thousands of people gathered in protest. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 06/12/2011)
