Be ready for action against derogatory content: Katju to sites

The Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju has said that social networking sites like Facebook and Google should be ready to face legal action on failure to remove objectionable content uploaded on them.

"I have seen the content on these sites and found them to be highly objectionable which may disrupt social harmony. If they fail to check these contents, then they should be ready to face legal action," Katju said in an informal interaction with the media in Bhopal on Tuesday night.

Katju said he totally supports the view of Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on the issue of regulating and putting a check on content of these social sites.

The PCI chairman also did not agree with the argument of these sites that it is not possible to remove objectionable content from being uploaded in huge quantity daily.

Referring to the news content in both print and electronic media, he criticised them for overlooking "real issues" like poverty and farmers suicides and focusing on stars giving birth to a child or death of an actor.

On his remarks against the media, Katju said that he is not a "dictator" and hoped that one day he would be able to convince other members of the Council about his viewpoints.

To a question, he said if other members did not come around, then he would go by the majority opinion, as is the practice in democracy.

Justice Katju has come under severe criticism following his sweeping remarks against media persons within days of taking over as the PCI chief following his retirement as a Supreme Court judge.

He was in Bhopal to take part in the general council meeting of the Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Mass Communication.