"The government of India is seeking to gag the voice of the public, expressed most freely on the net. It has sent 96 requests to the Google site alone from June to December 2011 fo removal of content," RSS mouthpiece Organiser said in the editorial of its latest edition.
It maintained that according to Google, there has been a 49 per cent rise in the number of requests for removing the contents in India, the highest in the world.
"It may be recalled that HRD Minister Kapil Sibal had growled in exaggerated fury over a cartoon regarding the Prime Minister. The UPA government is being lampooned, criticised and chided by angry citizens," the editorial said, adding that this is the role of the media but since it has failed to do so the people have chipped in.
Organiser alleged that as per newspaper reports the government investigative agencies are also engaged in finding the physical location and identity of several IP addresses from the US, which have posted material not "palatable to the Gandhi family", particularly Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul.
Citing Google, the editorial said most requests for removal are regarding political comments.
"Google received 2,207 requests for user data and 3,427 requests regarding users and accounts between July and December 2011. It complied with 66 per cent of the requests," the editorial said, adding that Pakistan has made only two such requests. (MORE)
