Facebook, Twitter accounts blocked over hate messages

Government is learnt to have ordered blocking of 80 more internet pages and user accounts today on social networking sites, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, to avoid panic among people of northeastern region living across India.

Government is learnt to have ordered blocking of 80 more internet pages and user accounts today on social networking sites, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, to avoid panic among people of northeastern region living across India.

All these sites were found hosting inflammatory and hateful content, spreading rumours and inciting violence targeting the people from northeast, government sources said.

Yesterday, the government had issued instructions to block 76 internet sites, which included webpages and some websites, and had said that bulk of the rumours that triggered panic among people of northeastern states in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra were sourced from Pakistan.

'We have found inflammatory and objectionable contents on some pages of Facebook and Google. Some user accounts at Twitter were also found spreading similar contents. All together, around 80 such pages and accounts have been ordered to be blocked today,' the sources said.

The rumours about a possible attacks have led to mass exodus of people from northeast from many places, including Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.

Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today asked his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik to crackdown on elements based in that country that were using social media networking sites to whip up communal sentiments and spreading hate in India.

According to a report prepared by the Home Ministry, a Pakistan-based hardline group is suspected to have been involved in doctoring images and spreading them across social networking sites to create panic among people of northeastern region living across India.