Justice Suresh Kait warned that if the Internet giants cannot monitor their content, India will follow China's censorship lead.
"Like China, we will block all such websites," Kait said Thursday, The Times of India reports.
But if Facebook and Google do tamper with content, it will be the same as if they had written it, according to Indian media outlet NDTV. Once the Internet heavyweights begin to interfere, they become legally responsible for content under the Indian Information Technology Act.
Mukul Rohatgi testified, on behalf of Google India, that the search giant cannot filter "obscene, objectionable and defamatory" content. He argued that neither the domestic branch Google India nor Google Inc., the holding company, are responsible for third parties' content.
"No human interference is possible, and moreover, it can't be feasible to check such incidents," Rohatgi said. "Billions of people across the globe post their articles on the website. Yes, they may be defamatory, obscene, but cannot be checked."
Do you think the Internet companies should try to devise a way to sort content to appease the Indian court? What do you think the Indian Government accomplishes by blocking Facebook and Google? Let us know in the comments.
BONUS: How the Internet Is Consumed in India
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