India tells US to regulate Facebook, YouTube content

New Delhi: The UPA government on Friday red-flagged the need to regulate and remove India-specific incendiary, provocative, abusive and communal content on Facebook, YouTube and Google with visiting US deputy secretary for homeland security Jane Holl Lute. While Lute recognised the Indian concerns, the Indian team led by home secretary RK Singh said that inaction on the part of the US would force New Delhi to insist on service providers’ having servers based in the country. As part of the ongoing homeland security dialogue, Singh and Lute discussed critical issues like megacity policing, home grown terror, capacity building and fake currency racket. A three-day course in Washington with US the Secret Service is being organised to help Indian police tackle the fake currency racket in India linked with terror funding.

However, Singh raised serious concerns over objectionable content on these websites and wanted real time action from the US-based companies. In this context, home ministry officials suggested that US homeland security department institute an operating procedure by which mala fide content is removed within a specific time period or instantly depending on the situation priority. Singh told his US counterpart that in case operating procedures were not put in place, New Delhi will have no option but to put the service providers under the Indian law by insisting on servers being based in India. This option is apparently already in process with the union law ministry.