Censor posts or face China-like ban: Delhi high court to websites

NEW DELHI: Refusing to stay criminal proceedings against Google and Facebook, the Delhi high court on Thursday warned they may be "blocked" if they fail to devise a mechanism to check and remove objectionable contents from their webpages. "Like China, we too can block such websites," Justice Suresh Kait remarked during the hearing when counsel for Google and Facebook harped on their global policy of non-interference even if contents posted on their webpages are found to be obscene or objectionable. The court, however, told the internet firms that this policy won't work in India. Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Google India, said postings which are "obscene, objectionable and defamatory" cannot be "filtered" or "monitored". "No human interference is possible. Moreover, it can't be feasible to check such incidents. Billions of people post their articles on the website. They may be defamatory and obscene, but cannot be checked," he argued, while trying to distinguish between Google India and its US-based holding firm Google Inc. "The US-based Google Inc is the service provider not me (Google India) and hence, we are not liable for the action of my holding company," Rohtagi said. He, however, assured the court that if the complainant, Vinay Rai, provided defamatory articles to Google India, then it can use "its good office" in getting them removed by its US firm. Additional solicitor general A S Chandhiok, appearing for the Centre, objected to Google's plea saying the US-based firm has "sufficient mechanism" to know that what is an offending material. Advocate Siddharth Luthra, appearing for Facebook India, questioned the authenticity of the documents provided by the complainant. "We do not know as to how the documents came into being. They are not in complaince with the Evidence Act," he said. He also argued that Facebook cannot be held accountable for the acts of the third parties.