India asks internet companies to screen user content

The Indian government has asked Internet companies and social media sites like Facebook to remove disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory user content from India before it goes online, three industry executives say. Top officials from the Indian units of Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Facebook were scheduled to meet with Kapil Sibal, India's acting telecommunications minister, to discuss the matter, said two executives of Internet companies. The executives asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the media on the issue. The executives said representatives from these companies were to tell Sibal at the meeting that his demand was impossible, given the volume of user-generated content coming from India. They said they could not be responsible for determining what was and was not defamatory or disparaging.