Taking a dim view of social networking sites not acting on India’s security concerns, the Union ministry of home affairs has asked the Department of Electronics and Information Technology to initiate action against them if they refuse to block inflammatory material, which has triggered panic among Indians of north-eastern origin.
The government has ordered the blocking of 310 Web pages, of which 93 have still not been blocked, prompting the MHA to harden its stand. International social networking sites, whose servers are based in the US and Saudi Arabia, have told the government to use the “legal route” because they cannot act on directions from outside their jurisdiction. Investigators have located servers in the US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt that were used to upload morphed images and videos to create unrest in India.
Union home secretary R.K. Singh spoke to foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai and apprised him of the information about the bulk of the morphed images being sourced to Pakistan. India will approach the US and Saudi Arabia by sending letters rogatory, invoking provisions of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, and, more importantly, the India-US Cyber Sec-urity Cooperation Agre-ement, signed last year to boost exchange of information on cybersecurity.