‘Govt has no plan to censor internet’

The government on Friday said it has no plans to censor internet and social media and consultations with various stakeholders to address their concerns on objectionable content were going on.

The government on Friday said it has no plans to censor internet and social media and consultations with various stakeholders to address their concerns on objectionable content were going on.

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Addressing a seminar organised by the Editors Guild of India, law minister Salman Khurshid said his colleague and information technology minister Kapil Sibal does not endorse the view of internet censorship in the country.

"I can share with you that Kabil Sibal has not endorsed internet censorship. He is already in consultation with the stakeholders. The consultation is going very well, but suddenly people reported that he was trying to put in censorship," he said.

Explaining the need to monitor and control objectionable material on the internet, Khurshid said the stakeholders have shown willingness to discuss all issues related to this.

‘Guidelines for judges needed’

Khurshid also suggested that judges should evolve guidelines and be careful in what they say.

Citing the example of British courts, the minister also made a strong pitch for court proceedings to be telecast live.

"As far as reporting guidelines on court proceedings are concerned, please try to help the court arrive at some rational and possible guidelines... The judges also have to have guidelines for themselves, because a lot of the things which are reported are said by them during trials," the law minister said.