Government wants mechanism to prevent social websites' misuse

New Delhi, Aug 22 (IANS) The government is working with social networking websites to create an institutional mechanism to prevent their misuse, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said Wednesday.

He was reacting to the recent online hate campaign targeting people from the northeast.

"We have to make efforts in consultation with the websites and impress upon them to create an institutional mechanism to prevent misuse of technology," Sibal told reporters outside Parliament House, adding that some websites have agreed to share user information with the government.

According to the minister, if there was misuse of technology there should be provision for punishment, which currently was not available.

"Now we have to decide the steps we have to take under our laws on how we can take it forward so that we can seek help from these websites in the coming days. We can identify those who have misused these website and punish them," he said.

Social networking website Facebook Tuesday said it is working with the government to remove "hateful content" that is widely being perceived to spark communal tension across the country.

Another firm, Google has also said it has extended support to the Indian government in removing the content that might incite violence.