Government denies censoring Internet

August 25, 2012

twt


New Delhi, August 25: Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has refuted charges that the Centre is censoring Internet, in the wake of its move to check objectionable content on the social media.

“There is no censorship at all. We decided on taking action because there were pictures of Myammar etc online, which were disturbing the atmosphere here in India. We are not taking action against other accounts, be it on Facebook, Twitter or even SMSes,” Shinde told reporters.

Minister for Communication and Information and Technology Kapil Sibal said his department has identified 28 URL numbers under which objectionable material is being shown for blocking.

“Now the government does not know that who is behind these URL numbers, only Twitter and other sites are aware about it. Later if those URL numbers are innocent, and then the accusations would be thrown at the government. Actually we don’t have the identities; we have no way to find out the identities,” Sibal said.

In coordination with the MHA, the DoT issued directive to all internet service providers (ISPs) for blocking objectionable content. "You are directed to block the access to above URLs only and not the main websites like Facebook, YouTube or Twitter."

Other than that, the ISPs were told to block fake accounts of the Prime Minister’s Office, certain links of media organizations and journalists.

The Prime Minister`s Office had asked Twitter to take appropriate action against 6 people impersonating the PMO. “When they did not reply for a long time, the Government Cyber Security Cell was requested to initiate action,” PMO stated in a statement issued on Friday.

Twitter, however, has now conveyed to the PMO that they have “removed the reported profiles due to violation of our Terms of Service regarding impersonation". “So, the accusations that we are aggressively targeting someone’s account or websites are incorrect,” the minister emphasised.

The minister clarified that India does not have jurisdicction over any website with servers outside the country, like Twitter. “We are happy that Facebook and Google are cooperating with us and the names of the objectionable sites that we had provided them have been blocked. We have also imposed restriction on those sites. But as far as Twitter is concerned, now they have said that they are ready for talks with us. But the solution to this problem should be a permanent one”.

The UPA government’s move to regulate the social media has taken a political turn, with the BJP Gujarat chief minister joining the netizens’ protest by blackening his twitter display snapshot.

However, after the miscreants started spreading morphed photographs , the MHA took steps to block more than 300 URLs and pages of Facebook and Twitter.

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Agencies
July 20,2020

Kolkata, Jul 20: As many as 13 migrant workers who came to their native village in West Bengal's Bankura district were denied entry at the quarantine centre by the locals.

As a result, the workers had to set up a tent accommodation at a nearby Beraban forest area and lived together in a single tent there, without adequate food, drinking water and basic facilities.

The migrant labourers came from Rajasthan after four months of COVID-19 lockdown which was imposed nationwide on March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

When they arrived at Jagadalla village in the Bankura district and tried to put up at a village school building for two weeks self-quarantine, angry villagers vehemently protested against their entry fearing Covid infections in their village.

Sources said that local police and panchayat members also failed to make the villagers understand the fact that if the labourers strictly stayed in self-quarantine there would be no chance of any further infection.

"The school is located quite within our neighbourhood. If they stay there and tested positive, they might spread Covid infections in the village. We cannot allow them to stay in the school building," said Aniket Goswami, a villager.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: Meerut Police on Thursday claimed that around 13,500 mobile phones in the country are running on the same IMEI, the number used to identify the device.

A case of fraud has been registered against the mobile phone manufacturing company and its service center, the police said.

The matter surfaced, after police personnel gave his mobile phone to the staff at cybercrime cell for examination, as the new phone was not working properly despite being repaired, Meerut SP (city) Akhilesh N Singh said.

The cyber cell found that around 13,500 other mobile phones are also running on the same International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) as that of the police personnel's phone, the superintendent of police said.

He said the matter is a serious security issue.

Prima facie it appears to be negligence on part of the mobile phone company and criminals can use it to their advantage, Singh said.

He said a case has been registered under relevant sections of the law at a Medical police station and a team of experts has been called to look into the matter.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Hyderabad, Jul 12: Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday condemned the demolition of a mosque and a temple inside the Secretariat building. He demanded the arrest of the contractor for demolition.
"During the process of demolition of the Secretariat building in Telangana, the mosque and temple were also demolished. The contractor must be booked and should be arrested. The public should know that we condemn this," he said while speaking to news agency.
Pointing out that his party MLAs Akbaruddin Owaisi and Moazam Khan have urged the state Assembly to look into the matter, he added, "We are not against the building of a new Secretariat, but what we asked for is not to destroy these structures during the process."
He welcomed the Chief Minister's announcement regarding the rebuilding of these structures.
"We expect the mosque to be built in the exact same place where it once stood. We expect the Chief Minister to speak to the representatives and meet our expectations and emotions about the mosque," he added.

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