Will Google, FB Set up Servers in India?


Bangalore: After Blackberry handset makers Research in Motion set up server in India, it may be time for other big players like Facebook and Google to take a call on the same. The Indian government is looking forward to have much better security control over objectionable content on social media networks and on the web and also plans to tighten norms to regulate offensive content on the internet reports

The UPA government has appealed the visiting US deputy secretary for Homeland Security Jane Holl Lute for regulation of content, says a HT report. Additionally the report also states that if necessary initiatives aren’t taken to curb the objectionable content, then these companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter will be compelled to set up local servers so that the Indian government can access and regulate the required objectionable content reports Firstpost.

However, this is not the first time that the Indian government has asked any company to route their content via India, earlier this year makers of Blackberry cell phones- Research in Motion (RIM) a Canadian based company set up a server in Mumbai. This was to help Indian law enforcement agencies to get real time data the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service.

This was done considering the security issues related with the highly encrypted form of BBM data, and the servers provide a mechanism for lawful interception of the messenger services. However this is not the only case where the government has got access. Companies like Google and Yahoo were asked to route mails via India, even if the account was registered abroad.

Recently one of the congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s sex video made rounds on the social media sites and spread like wildfire on the internet. Singhvi blamed organized gangs for doing so to defame him. Sites like Facebook and Youtube were used to leak out the video.

There are other cases like these, Mamta Baneerjee’s West Bengal’s CM’s ‘objectionable’ pictures were posted on Facebook which were removed by Facebook on CIDs request.  Considering the offending and anti-social activities communication minister Kapil Sibal had suggested censoring of social media.