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Google Aids Indian Goverment Censorship

Posted by kdawson on from the don't-be-what? dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google's Orkut has made a deal to provide IP addresses of posters of content deemed objectionable by Bombay police. They object, among others, to posts against certain Indian personalities, young women admiring Indian mobsters, and, amazingly, "anti-Indian words" (!)."

4 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. "Don't be evil"?? by fabs64 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm usually in the "whatever, they have to do business" crowd with google, but this isn't in any grey area, it's downright black.

  2. Re:well by giminy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well if Google doesnt bow to the Indian government they will lose money. The "dont be evil" mantra would seem to contradict this move.

    Quite right. Which means, by extension, "don't be evil" and "IPO" are a bit at odds. Pulling out of India over this means lost shareholder revenue. Lost shareholder revenue means lawsuits. Lawsuits mean suffering...

    So yeah, I would say "don't be evil" died a while ago.

    --
    The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
  3. Re:here it goes: Beef is good by kraemate · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Thats the local beef-vendor.
    It would have been the police had you started a community on the lines of "OMG! PaKiStan is teh roxxorz.. iNdIa is komplete sucks"

  4. Criminal investigatoins should be allowed by Jimithing+DMB · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After reviewing the articles I've come to the conclusion that while I don't condone investigating people for hate-speech against India that I see no problem with investigating the source of a mob boss fan club. Even applying the U.S. constitution (which of course India is not held to) I would see no problem with this. The police can and should investigate something like this. If it turns out it's someone not connected to the criminal then that's fine. But if it turns out that it's part of a conspiracy to drum up public support and poison the jury pool then that is an entirely different matter. Who's to say that this anonymously submitted article is not part of that conspiracy?

    I believe Google did the right thing by turning over records to the police. Anonymity is not sacrosanct. Freedom to say what you want is, and if that is not allowed in India then that should be changed. However, impeding a criminal investigation is not a good way to bring about change.

    I wish I could point out a specific attribution but it's not a new concept that one must work within ones societal rules to change society for the better. I believe it is mentioned at least a few times in the new testament and most likely in other religious and philosophical texts as well.