Google Assists Indian Police Arrest Student
By Daya Baran at May 19, 2008 14 Comments|
Vaid posted derogatory content about Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on a orkut community named — “I hate Sonia Gandhi”. The messages were circulated through an email address – Rahulvaidindia@gmail.com, which is operated by Google’s Gmail.
On Friday evening a team of Indian police arrived at the home of Rakul Vaid in Gurgaon city, Haryana. He was arrested and flown to Pune where he was arrigned on Saturday. Vaid was charged under section 292 of Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act because he created a profile and then posted content in vulgar language about Sonia Gandhi in the community. If proved guilty, Vaid could be imprisoned for up to five years and may have to pay a fine up to Rs. 100,000. Last year, Yahoo was embroiled in a similar situation and the provided the Chinese government with information that led to the arrest of a journalist, who wrote critically about the government. In February, Facebook provided the Moroccan government with information that led to the arrest of a 26 year old IT engineer who created a fake profile of Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco. Internet companies operate in a world without borders however they are increasingly being bound by laws under which their users reside. What are your thoughts on this? |
Google provided Indian police with 
The investigation began in December 2007 when the cyber crime cell of Pune police communicated with the Google seeking details about the identity of the person who formed the forum and circulated the obscene content.
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14 Comments
I don’t see what danger the young man arrested posed to Sonia Gandhi. We’re supposed to have free speech in India. If a company Google’s size won’t stand up to the Indian Government’s bullying, who will? No way should they be proud of this.
Thats typical google and has something to do with their “philosophy” to deal with governments…remember the stockholders-meeting on 8th may…http://www.googlefalle.com/googletrap/googletrap/index.php/2008/04/29/evidence-from-mountain-view-google-is-in-favor-of-censorship-and-against-human-rights/
….google is an uncontrolled and dangerous dominator in the web. they are working together with governments like china, they are controlling more than 800 million web-users, they are creating profils….beware google.
I hate Sonia Gandhi
I think Google, Yahoo etc need to comply with the local laws in the countries where they operate unless they violate the basic human rights. If posting vulgar comments about the prime minister breaks the law in India and Google is compelled by law to support the investigation - it’s very difficult for them to refuse to cooperate. (unless they’re prepared to exit the market all together).
Shame you, Google. Last I checked India has free speech democracy. Expressing opinion about a politician doesn’t pose any national secuity threat that you had to bend under the pressure!
This won’t help Google’s image as the Big Brother of the 21st Century…
Google you sucK!!!!!! Absolute evil.
Yes, Google is forced to comply with local law. It sucks, from the perspective of an American, that someone could be arrested for saying Sonia Gandhi is an Idiot, or something.
This, however, is NOT Google’s fault. It is the fault of the people of India, who apparently do NOT have free speech, despite being told, “India has free speech democracy.”
What happens in the US, through the Patriot Act however, directly flies in the face of our True Free Speech and Privacy laws. Google, Yahoo, MS, all have to comply or be forced to shut down.
This is a fight that everyone should be engaged in, because you better believe that the authorities, around the world, are dedicated to eroding whatever freedoms we have left. They are dedicated Full Time to this, and our tax dollars pay them to do it. Nice Gig.
Change the Laws. Calling Google “Shameless” does Absolutely Nothing.
They claim to have “Free Speech” in Britain as well. Do they?
NO.
That’s why McDonalds sued those people there for defamation for distributing a brochure that detailed reasons McDonalds is bad for the environment.
Why didn’t they sue somebody in the US? Because in the US, the burden of proof would be on McDonalds to prove that they are lying. In UK, the two defendants fought for about seven years, full time, relying on donations to keep fighting, while McDonalds poured millions into legal counsel without blinking.
Free Speech is a Slogan. If we were only allowed to say one thing, it would be “We Sure Are Lucky To Have Free Speech”.
why not blame the Indian Police? Why not blame, as many do, the entire internet?
These rights need to be hammered out, and fast. Google is facing constant pressure from every country they operate in. Authorities are always pushing, threatening to shut down Google, or arrest their employees as accessories.
Any uninformed moron can say “Google is pure Evil”…(At least in the US), but how about bringing this snowballing battle to light?
This is a fight for our societies’ future. This type of arrest sets yet another precedent which will take years and years to fight back.
Incredible to see people getting carried away here.
In a democracy (india or elsewhere) people have the right to free speech. This person did not exercise the right to free speech, her abused and attacked an elected leader of Indian people. Nobody, certainly not the Indian government can or will go after any individual criticizing any leader - that is fair and open debate.
However if someone abuses, verbally or physically any other person, leader or otherwise they should be prosecuted. Google or any other portal should and must comply with law enforcement - India or elsewhere.
Stop comparisons with the Chinese guy - he was not abusing simply engaging in discourse. Prosecuting someone for expressing their opinion without abuse is indeed dictatorial and should be tolerated in today’s society.
What if that person arrested was writing death threats to that politician? The last I heard in the U.S. if a person makes any sort of “death threat” (including “for whom the bell tolls” comments) they can be arrested as a threat to the president, even if it’s in jest.
In a way I agree with arresting that sort of person that makes death threats to a politician as it’s like yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater causing undo panic or harm. Many claim that is “free speech” when it isn’t (both scenarios). Even I *feel* it’s wrong to arrest for that.
So going on and on about a politician is protected speech but threatening their life is not ‘free speech’ (legally speaking) though the law included as part of it’s intent at the time some threats to King George when it was written in the U.S.!
So the content is important. Did that person arrested write threats to the politicians life or just rants?
I need to make a slight clarification to my post:
On the one hand I find it ridiculous to arrest a person who makes a joke about killing a participation (depending on the forum) but understand fully it’s being illegal (think: slippery slope).
If this was not so tragic…it would be hillarious. Millions of Americans would face the same fate for what is posted about Hillary Clinton on the internet…if the US had the same laws as India.
Have a clue about personal freedom, Pankaj! If the right to free speech is restricted to saying only sweet things about elected leaders, then it’s useless and a travesty. The whole point of free speech is that you should be able to criticize whomever and whatever you want. Look at what sensible people in the US say about George Bush, probably the most hated man on the planet. All the prisons in the world couldn’t fit everyone who has attacked and abused him online (and rightfully so IMHO…uh-oh, what was that knock on my door?)