Delhi HC issues notices to Google, Facebook

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Looks like there is more court trouble for Internet companies in India. Delhi High Court has issued notices to Facebook India and Google India after a petition filed by the ex-Bhartiya Janata Party leader, K.N. Govindacharya, who accused the two websites of tax evasion, using users' data for commercial purposes, and not verifying users details. The former BJP leader also slammed Centre for not taking action against the Internet companies. The court has asked the companies to respond to the notice within four weeks.

Govindacharya in the petition said that Facebook India was transferring data of its Indian users to the U.S. for commercial purposes, without paying any taxes to the Indian government. The petitioner further wanted the government to ensure implementation of verification norms for social networks, as done by the telecom companies.

The petitioner pointed out that nearly 5-6 percent of Facebook profiles are fake and that the government had laid guidelines for “Know Your Customer” for all sectors, especially for telecom companies. However, the social networking companies were not following the guidelines; thus posing a huge security threat to the country.

Govindacharya in his petition also slammed Facebook for letting children under 13 years to join the network. He said the social network allowed preteens only to promote online gaming market and make revenue from advertisements. Also, Facebook wasn't paying due taxes on their Indian operations, as per the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement.

The petition, which accuses the websites of breaching various norms, also sought a ban on the government officers accessing social networking websites through the government computers.

Also read,

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• India asks U.S. to remove objectionable content from Facebook, YouTube

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