New Delhi: Internet giant Google Inc, which operates social networking site Orkut, said on Tuesday that it has removed a fake profile of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati from the website.
"The fake profiles of Chief Minister Mayawati violated Orkut's policy on impersonation and have been removed," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
"We take violations of Orkut's policy very seriously as such activities diminish the experience of our users. When we learn about illegal or inappropriate content, we act quickly to remove it," the spokesperson said.
Uttar Pradesh Home Secretary Javed Ahmed said on Tuesday that the government would take strict action against the offenders. The spokesperson said the company has a reporting tool that state police authorities can use to have a direct line of contact to report inappropriate content on Orkut.
"The reporting tool does not affect the way we treat users' data. It only enables a faster, direct communication channel. Authorities will still be required to follow the appropriate legal process," the official said.
Meanwhile, cyber law experts said the government should take steps to prevent misuse of such networking platforms.
"These excesses on social networking sites are not covered under Information Technology Act. Even the proposed amendments to Indian Cyber Law seeks to make a feeble attempt in making the identity thefts as a bailable offence," Pawan Duggal, a cyber law exprt and Supreme Court lawyer, said.
"What is required is stringent deterrent provisions of civil and criminal liability for such crimes," he said. Duggal also said it was technically possible to identify the last computer from where the mysterious content was uploaded by Internet protocol tracking mechanism.
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