Violation of law by Internet cos will invite action: Sachin Pilot

New Delhi: The government today said all Internet companies operating in India must obey law of the land and any non-compliance or violation will invite action. “… social media company has to operate within the laws of a given country. If there is violation of those laws … then we will have to take action so as to make sure that there is compliance of those laws and regulations,” Minister of State for Communications and IT Sachin Pilot told reporters here. [caption id=“attachment_426807” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Asked if banning a company is an option, Pilot said it is “too soon” to comment. He said the government is in touch with all these companies. “As and when the Home Ministry has advised us, we have taken the necessary action whenever there is non-compliance. That has been brought to the notice of the required individuals at different stages and we will wait and see how things shape out,” he said. The government has ordered ban of 310 webpages charging that morphed images and videos were uploaded displaying alleged atrocities on Muslims. It said these led to the fear psychosis among the people of the North-East and their mass exodus from different parts of the country. Of the 310 webpages, 93 webpages are expected to be blocked within a day or two while experts are examining the contents of remaining ten webpages. Ministry officials said so far 207 webpages have been blocked by the government agencies after orders were issued to block 310 as technical investigation found that all offensive images and videos were uploaded on them. According to the government, some of the content have been uploaded from outside the country, mostly from Pakistan, and wants the websites to take quick action to block them. There have been debates in the past over social networks being misused for “inflammatory content” and monitoring of content on these websites. However, there was strong opposition saying such a move would be curbing freedom of expression. PTI