Web censorship not possible, asserts Google

This comes in as an update to the ongoing court case, where 21 social networking sites operational in the country are pressing their stand against a new set of web censorship norms in the country. Ahead of the next scheduled court hearing, Google asserted that they cannot screen all content on their website. According to a Times of India report, Google's Chief Business Officer, Nikesh Arora stated that it was impossible for them to censor the web, and that censoring the web meant putting limitations on the way in which people express themselves on social networking sites, which isn't a good thing. He added, "You are asking not just censor the Web in India, you are asking to censor the entire world wide web. The Web has no borders.I think the idea of censoring everything and pre- clearing everything is going to fundamentally, sort of, taint the growth of the Indian economy in India and vis-a-vis the world."

Google asserts that web censorship is not possible (Image credit: Getty Images)

The next hearing on this one has been scheduled for February 2. At the last hearing, both Google and Facebook maintained that pre-screening content before it went up on their sites wasn't possible. Both Google and Facebook are now challenging the summons issued by the Delhi HC. Reportedly, executives of the 21 companies, including Google, Facebook, YouTube, among others have been issued summons by a lower court for a hearing on March 13th, 2012.

For those not in the know, the court case involving some 21 social networking websites in India is easily among the most talked about ones in recent times. The government has accused these websites, which include some really popular ones, like Google, Facebook, Orkut, YouTube, among others of posting objectionable content on their websites. The government believes that such content could harm the peace and sanity of the nation by instigating violence.