Google, Facebook cooperating with India on hate content

Google and Facebook, the two leading global internet majors, said on Tuesday that they were cooperating with authorities in India to remove inflammatory and hateful content from the websites.

The Indian government has imposed a ban on more than 300 webpages that have featured morphed and doctored images and videos, highlighting alleged attacks on Muslims in Assam. Many of these images were uploaded from Pakistan.

On 11 August anti-social elements whipped up sentiments at a rally organised by a local outfit in Mumbai to protest against the attacks on Muslims in Assam and Myanmar, by displaying some of the doctored images. This led to violence, in which hooligans set fire to scores of vehicles, including police and OB vans and public transport buses. Two people were killed in firing and more than 50 injured in the attacks.

Days later there was an exodus of north-eastern residents from Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other cities, as text messages warned them of further retaliation. But many of those who left for their homes have now started returning to work in the major cities (See: Residents from North East return to their jobs).

Both Google and Facebook issued statements on Tuesday claiming they were cooperating with the Indian government. 

''We understand the gravity of the situation, strongly condemn acts of violence and continue to work closely with relevant authorities,'' said Google. ''Content intended to incite violence, such as hate speech, is prohibited on Google products where we host content, including YouTube, Google+ and Blogger.''