Delhi HC to hear Google-Facebook petition

The petition which Internet search giant Google and social network Facebook filed to challenge the trial court’s summons for indicting them for objectionable website content is scheduled for hearing today in the Delhi High Court.

It was on the basis of a complaint filed by journalist Vinay Rai – who called for action against Google, Facebook and 19 other Internet sites for posting objectionable material online – that the prosecution of executives of the companies was approved by the government on Friday.

With the 21 Internet companies facing legal action in connection with their offence of promoting enmity between classes, the Delhi High Court had, on Thursday, refused to stay criminal proceedings against Facebook India and Google India.

In its warning to the companies, the High Court said that it is highly likely that the companies may be "blocked" – similar to their blocking in China – in case of any failure on their part to take out objectionable content from their web pages.

Informing Facebook India and Google India that “like China, we (India) will block all such (objectionable) websites,” Justice Suresh Kait told the counsel for the two companies that they is need for working out a mechanism for not only keeping a check on "offensive and objectionable" content, but also removing all such material from their web pages.

However, in their defense, the companies have said in a statement that it is “not feasible” to check the posting of objectionable content because “billions of people across the globe post their articles on the website.”