Senior managers from 19 Internet companies and Web sites, including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and YouTube, have been summoned for allegedly hosting offensive content, media reports said on Friday.
According to the terms of a complaint, filed by Vinay Rai, a journalist, a Metropolitan Magistrate in New Delhi, Sudesh Kumar, has directed the government to take the "immediate" and "appropriate" steps and file a further report by Jan. 13.
"It appears from a bare perusal of the documents that prima facie the accused in connivance with each other and other unknown persons are selling, publicly exhibiting and have put into circulation obscene, lascivious content which also appears to the prurient interests and tends to deprave and corrupt the persons who are likely to read, see or hear the same," the court said in its statement.
"It is also evident that such contents are continuously openly and freely available to everyone who is using the said network irrespective of their age and even the persons under the age of 18 years have full and uncensored access to such obscene contents," it added.
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The accused companies have been charged for committing offences punishable under Section 292 (sale of obscene books), Section 293 (sale of obscene objects to young people) and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
The court noted that among the materials submitted by the complainant were obscene pictures and derogatory articles pertaining to Prophet Mohammad, Jesus Christ and various Hindu gods and goddesses. The Delhi court's order comes in the wake of uproar by Internet users over a perceived move by the government to censor online content.
A New York Times report earlier this month said that Telecoms and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal had called executives from Internet companies, including Facebook, Twitter and Google to remove content that maligned Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi.
The move unleashed a storm of criticism from Internet users, who complained of censorship in the world's largest democracy, who denied promoting such actions while adding that some images and statements risked fanning tensions in conservative India.?
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