Home ministry wants action on social media

The home ministry is seeking help from the US and Saudi Arabia governments to identify those who put on cyberspace doctored images that led to the exodus of Northeast people from various Indian cities.

It is exploring legal action against social media platforms that haven't complied with its directives to block access to the offensive webpages.

Legal requests are being sent to the two countries since the computer servers of the websites are located there.

Besides, New Delhi also wants the US to nudge internet companies like Google and Yahoo, social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and Google-controlled YouTube to take steps to preserve the data on their servers beyond the mandatory 30-day period to enable a team of Indian experts to cull cyber forensic evidence to nail the culprits.

A team of cyber experts would be sent shortly, a government source said. 'We are receiving the least cooperation from Twitter,' telecom secretary R Chandrashekhar said. 'Other social networking websites are working on our advice.'

There was no statement from Twitter. But Facebook and Google said they were cooperating with the government.

'We understand the gravity of the situation, strongly condemn acts of violence, and continue to work closely with the relevant authorities,' said an official spokesperson of Google.

Facebook echoed the same sentiment in its statement and encouraged people — besides the government — to 'report content they are concerned about …so that we can investigate and take action fast'.