Global News Post: Social Network

INDIA: Twitter Agrees to Block Six Fake Indian PM'S Accounts

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Social networking site Twitter has agreed to cooperate with the government in blocking six fake accounts "misrepresenting" India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, officials said Thursday.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Twitter has around 16 million accounts in India.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"Twitter has agreed to cooperate in blocking the six fake PM accounts and we welcome their cooperation. They responded to our complaint, saying we need to follow an internal channel to lodge a formal complaint in the matter," the prime minister's media adviser Pankaj Pachauri told Indo-Asian News Agency (IANS).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"We have forwarded their communication to the ministry of communications and IT for necessary action. We had earlier complained through email to the six fake twitter accounts individually," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The official said the fact that the government sought just six accounts out of 16 million to be blocked for misrepresenting the prime minister shows New Delhi did not favour a blanket ban on Twitter.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some of the fake Twitter accounts misrepresenting the prime minister included @Indian_pm, @PMOIndiaa, @dryumyumsingh, @PM0India.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Officials said the source of these fake accounts could be outside the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Opening the prime minister's Twitter account was Pachauri's brainchild to reach out to the community through new media after he joined the PMO early this year, said the report.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Over the past few days, the government has also blocked around 300 websites which it blamed for spreading rumours that sparked an exodus of the northeast people from Bangalore and Chennai. -- NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

INDIA: Twitter Agrees to Block Six Fake Indian PM'S Accounts

NEW DELHI, India (NNN-Bernama) -- Social networking site Twitter has agreed to cooperate with the government in blocking six fake accoun...

YouTube, Facebook, Twitter: Tools of Syrian Opposition

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>By Henry Ridgwell from London</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Of all the uprisings across the Arab world, Syria is proving the hardest for the global media to cover. Opposition groups are therefore heavily reliant on social media - the likes of YouTube, Facebook and Twitter - to convey what is happening. Our reporter recently traveled to neighboring Lebanon for VOA, and found a sophisticated network of Syrian activists taking the opposition fight online.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="305" src="http://www.voanews.com/templates/widgetDisplay.html?id=141685273&player=article" width="480"></iframe></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A shaky amateur video seemingly taken on a cell phone appears to show shells falling on the city of Homs.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is one of hundreds, possibly thousands of similar videos uploaded to social media websites like YouTube in the past few weeks.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In the absence of many foreign journalists, social media has become one of the key tools for telling the outside world what is happening is Syria.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just over the border in Lebanon, Abdi Hakim Ijburi sits talking to other Syrian refugees at a camp in the town of Wadi Khaled. He says he had a good life in Syria, selling fabrics.  When the Arab Spring erupted he got online and found many others wanting to emulate the protests in Egypt and Tunisia.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"At first, we started using Facebook, YouTube and Twitter to get a group of young people and activists together,” he said. “And from that group we started organizing. In Talkalakh where I come from, we started writing anti-government graffiti on walls.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hakim says as the protests built momentum, he was captured and tortured. Like thousands of other Syrians, he escaped into Lebanon from where he continues to help organize the online opposition.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“There were lots of people in my hometown of Talkalakh that I didn’t even know were part of the opposition movement, or were sympathetic with the movement,” he said. “And if it hadn’t been for the social media we wouldn’t have become united.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Activists are circulating advice online on how to film videos of corpses and torture victims for use in any future trials.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One message sent to VOA via Skype suggests filming both entry and exit wounds from gunshots so the type of weapon can be determined; and including a copy of the day's newspaper to prove the timing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Emanuelle Esposti, a columnist and blogger in Britain, has been analyzing the use of such videos by foreign mainstream media.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“It’s very difficult to know where that video has actually come from, who’s behind it, why are they behind it," said Esposti. "Because there’s nobody there on the ground, because there’s no reporter there that can say ‘Yes, I’ve looked out of my window and I’ve seen this.’”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One of the most prolific activists in Syria was Rami al-Sayed. He used the website ‘Bambuser’ to broadcast purported live pictures of the shelling of Homs to the outside world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fellow activists say he was killed by shrapnel.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Media analysts say the recent deaths of two foreign journalists in Homs have left the outside world even more dependent on Syria’s citizens to document the violence. ---VOA News</span></div></div>

YouTube, Facebook, Twitter: Tools of Syrian Opposition

By Henry Ridgwell from London Of all the uprisings across the Arab world, Syria is proving the hardest for the global media to cover. Op...

Indian Internet Lawsuit Puts Spotlight on Freedom of Expression

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</span></h2><div class="byline" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">By </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Anjana Pasricha<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span class="location"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">from <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:place></st1:city></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 8.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">In <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, Internet giants such as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Google<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Facebook<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>are fighting a lawsuit after the government authorized their prosecution for online content on their sites deemed to be offensive. The case has put the spotlight on free speech in the world’s largest democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
The criminal lawsuit filed by the editor of New Delhi-based Urdu weekly <em>Akbari</em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>accuses 21 Internet companies of violating Indian law. Vinay Rai alleged that online material on their websites has the potential to incite religious conflict.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Rai said his colleagues brought to his attention images of Prophet Muhammad which could offend Muslims. He cited other images and text which could hurt sentiments of Hindus and Christians. Rai wants Internet companies to screen content before it is posted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Google and Facebook have asked the Delhi High Court to dismiss the case against them. In an appeal, they said it is impossible to filter all content or stop individuals from posting material online.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Editor Rai filed the case after the government indicated its approval for the prosecution. The official go-ahead came weeks after the government also raised a similar demand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Voluntary framework</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal told Internet company representatives to come up with a voluntary framework to keep offensive material off the net.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">After confronting them with photos and material derogatory of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi, he said the companies had not cooperated.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Both the court case and the government’s demands have stoked fears of net censorship in the world’s largest democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Advocacy groups say the dispute between authorities and websites began simmering last year when <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> tightened laws to block content which could be deemed offensive. Citizens and officials can ask sites to block objectionable material and failure to comply within 36 hours can attract penalties or imprisonment of up to seven years.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sunil Abraham, with the Center for Internet and Society in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, said these rules have the potential to curtail debate and discussion on the net.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“These limits are vague.  They allow for all sorts of subjective tests by private parties and we predicted they would have a chilling effect on freedom of expression online," Abraham said. "Policy in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> has been headed in a very worrisome direction.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Abraham pointed out that one of his organization’s recent studies indicates that, faced with the threat of stiff penalties, most service providers removed content when asked to do so, even when it was not offensive or controversial.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Free media?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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The government insists its objective is not to encroach on the fundamental right of free speech guaranteed by <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s democratic constitution. The clarification came from Minister Kapil Sibal after his meetings with Internet companies last month.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">“This government does not believe in censorship," noted Sibal. "This government does not believe in either directly or indirectly interfering in the freedom of the press, and we have demonstrated that time and again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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<st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> does have a vibrant free media and Internet access is largely free, unlike in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. But in a country with a history of religious violence, authorities have long tussled with the dilemma of balancing free speech with the need to not inflame sentiments among religious groups. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> was one of the first countries to ban Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
Other books and articles have also faced bans. Many are challenged in courts and several have been overturned.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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Now the focus is on the Internet and questions are being raised about whether the web should or can be policed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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<strong>Online freedom<o:p></o:p></strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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In a remark widely quoted in the domestic media, a judge hearing the case had warned websites that like <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> might be compelled to block some of them if they did not create means to curb material seen as offensive.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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However, Abraham from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype>  of <st1:placename w:st="on">Internet</st1:placename></st1:place> and Society hopes that, as the latest case navigates its way through Indian courts, online freedom will come up the winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br />
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“I think the executive in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> has always been very conservative in freedom of expression. It is usually the courts in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> that protect freedom of expression, the precedent," Abraham said. "So we are every hopeful that the current case is in the appropriate venue, and we are confident that, as in the past, the judiciary in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> will stand on the side of freedom of expression.”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
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With 100 million people surfing the web, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> has the world’s third largest number of Internet users after <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> and the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white;"> ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>

Indian Internet Lawsuit Puts Spotlight on Freedom of Expression

By Anjana Pasricha from New Delhi In India , Internet giants such as Google and Facebook are fighting a lawsuit after the gover...

India: Delhi Court Issues Summons to Google, Facebook over Objectionable Contents

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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">NEW DELHI</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (NNN-EXPRESSINDIA) -- A Delhi court has issued summons to various foreign-based social networking sites, including Facebook and Google, to face criminal charges for allegedly hosting objectionable contents and directed them to appear before it on March 13.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">It asked the Ministry of External Affairs to get the summons served on these companies.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court direction came after the counsel appearing for Facebook <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> said over ten out of 21 companies named as accused in the case were foreign-based and that the court would have to issue process to serve the summons on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court was hearing a private complaint filed by a journalist Vinay Rai against these firms for allegedly web-casting objectionable contents. The summons were issued to the sites including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Youtube.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"Let the process (to serve the summons) on (foreign-based) accused be sent through the MEA as per the process," said Metropolitan Magistrate (MM) Sudesh Kumar.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court listed the matter for further hearing on March 13 and directed the accused to appear in person before it on the next date. "The accused are allowed exemption for today only but are directed to appear in person on the next date of hearing without fail," the magistrate said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court passed the order after advocate Shashi Tripathi, appearing for the complainant, told the magistrate that he would file a fresh list of the addresses of the various foreign-based sites for the serving of the summons through the MEA.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">During the hearing, senior counsel Siddharth Lutra, representing Facebook <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, sought adjournment for the day, saying the matter was pending before the Delhi High Court and the case file was also in the High Court.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Luthra said, "The matter is listed in the High Court for January 16... No order has been passed by the High Court during yesterday's proceedings. Since the record (case file) is not here, we are seeking adjournment for today only".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He said that one of the accused, who is chairman of the Facebook, is based in <st1:state w:st="on">California</st1:state> in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> and the court would have to direct the MEA for serving summons on him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The counsel for Google India Pvt Ltd also asked the court to adjourn the matter today. He said that summons issued to accused companies Orkut, Youtube and Blogspot have been mistakenly served at their premises here.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court, which had earlier directed the Centre to take "immediate appropriate steps" in this regard, was told by the counsel for Ministry of Communication and Information Technology that they would file a report today itself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The court had on December 23 last issued summons to them against which some of the accused companies had moved the High Court. The summons to the foreign firms had not been served.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The magistrate's December 23 order had come three days after another court in a civil case had restrained these sites including Facebook, Google and Youtube from webcasting any 'anti-religious' or 'anti-social' content promoting hatred or communal disharmony.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The magistrate had said, "It appears from a bare perusal of the documents that prima facie the accused in connivance with each other and other unknown persons are selling, publicly exhibiting and have put into circulation obscene, lascivious content".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The magistrate had summoned the accused companies for allegedly committing offences punishable under section 292 (sale of obscene books etc), 293 (sale of obscene objects to young person etc) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He had said that as per the records placed before the court by the complainant, there were defamatory and obscene articles pertaining to various Indian political leaders which were being webcast by these sites. He had also noted that the material submitted by complainant contained obscene picture and derogatory articles pertaining to Prophet Mohammad, Jesus Christ and various Hindu gods and goddesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According to the complainant, the alleged contents on these sites were obscene and might lead to "creation of obscene books, pamphlets, papers which can easily be downloaded from these social networking websites affecting the minds of children and were harmful for social harmony and may lead to increase in crime against women also". -- NNN-EXPRESSINDIA<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

India: Delhi Court Issues Summons to Google, Facebook over Objectionable Contents

NEW DELHI (NNN-EXPRESSINDIA) -- A Delhi court has issued summons to various foreign-based social networking sites, including Facebook and...

Facebook is rocking in India

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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-outline-level: 3; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 16px;">By <a href="http://www.groundreport.com/vartika1nanda"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Vartika Nanda</span></a> (<a href="http://www.groundreport.com/Media_and_Tech/Facebook-is-rocking-in-India/2940811"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Ground Report</span></a>)    </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Facebook/dp/1615640363?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Complete Idiot's Guide to Facebook" height="320" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1615640363&tag=glob036-20" width="214" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1615640363" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />Count all the users of facebook and you will find a country with the third largest population in the world. 93% of the modern literate world is now hooked to the facebook. And how can one forget India. It is now world’s fourth biggest country with such huge number of facebook users.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When Prof Sreenivasan from Columbia University recently shared his views on facebook with the younger audience, there was lots of joy and energy in the auditorium. Venue was the American Center at New Delhi. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This thought provoking discussion revolved around the use and scope of social media networking and thus intentionally aimed at a young audience across Delhi.  From twitter to linkedin to facebook, it was quite evident that facebook is literally ruling the young mindset.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Facebook-Effect-Inside-Company-Connecting/dp/1439102120?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1439102120&tag=glob036-20" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to a release given by the American Center, Professor Sree Sreenivasan is a journalism educator at<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1439102120" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> Columbia University and a technology guru who works to help journalists and consumers use technology in smarter ways. A commentator on tech and media issues, Sree is considered to be one of Poynter's 35 most influential people in social media; one of AdAge's 25 media people to follow on Twitter; one of  the top 25 journalists to follow on Twitter; and one of 22 professors named to the "Top 100 Twitterers in Academia" by OnlineSchools.org.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thus the data and experiences shared by him were mind boggling.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Facebook-Business-Customers-Awareness-ebook/dp/B003Z0D0YU?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Facebook for Business: How To Market Your Business on Facebook and Get More Sales, New Customers and Brand Awareness" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B003Z0D0YU&tag=glob036-20" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B003Z0D0YU" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />India is a country with more that 50% people below the age of 30. This makes it a unique breeding ground for a new media option like facebook. It appeared at many occasions that the discussion turned to be a PR exercise for the promotion of facebook but it got a balanced look when the audience started posing questions on the ethics and legal issues pertaining to facebook and the success of the new tool called the google +. It was evident that it will take a while to equip ourselves with the tools to handle cyber crime.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There was hardly any mention of the traditional modes of communication which had a long history in a country like India. Nevertheless it was successful in highlighting the fact that facebook rocks!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.6pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; margin-bottom: 2.4pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Social-Networking-Career-Success-Personal/dp/1576857824?ie=UTF8&tag=glob036-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Social Networking for Career Success: Using Online Tools to Create a Personal Brand" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=1576857824&tag=glob036-20" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the past six years, facebook has succeeded in creating an efficient cyber space and discussions like these<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=glob036-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=1576857824" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> are sure to add new dimensions to the ongoing technology driven thought process. Looking at its speed, velocity and popularity, one is sure facebook will touch the mark of one billion users soon and thus, ignoring this smarter mode is just impossible. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Published <span class="apple-style-span">under a</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="apple-style-span"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License</span></a>.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div></div>

Facebook is rocking in India

By Vartika Nanda ( Ground Report ) Count all the users of facebook and you will find a country with the third largest population i...