“The Indian government's efforts to stem a weeklong panic among some ethnic minorities has again put it at odds with Internet companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter,†Vikas Bajaj wrote in The New York Times.
Officials in New Delhi, “who have had disagreements with the companies over restrictions on free speech,†Mr. Bajaj wrote, said the sites are slow in responding to requests to “delete and trace the origins of doctored photos and incendiary posts aimed at people from northeastern India.â€
The government has blocked 245 Web pages since Friday, he wrote. But many sites are said to contain “fabricated images of violence against Muslims in the northeast and in neighboring Myanmar,†meant to incite Muslims in cities like Bangalore and Mumbai to attack people from the northeast.
India has also restricted cellphone users to five text messages a day each for 15 d ays, in an effort to limit the spread of rumors, which led to tens of thousands of northeastern migrants to flee to their native states, he wrote.
Executives from Google and industry associations said they were cooperating fully with the authorities, he wrote. But some analysts noted that few requests had not been heeded as they were “overly broad or violated internal policies and the rights of users.â€
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