Lok Sabha Question No. 1535 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-27
Subject: Blocking of Websites
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: P. C. MOHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1535 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27 TH      DECEMBER, 2017

## BLOCKING OF WEBSITES

1535.  SHRI P.C. MOHAN:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  issued  any  orders  to  Internet  Service  Providers (ISPs) asking them to block access to URLs, Facebook pages and YouTube videos and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has received any complaint regarding illegal domains posing as Government Websites and if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) whether the ISPs have necessary technology to block specific items or contents instead of blocking the entire website and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to coordinate with various Ministries and ISPs to streamline the procedure for online blocking and if so, the details in this regard and if not, the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) As  per  Information  Technology  Act,  2000  [Section  69A]  and  Procedure  and Safeguards  for  Blocking  for  Access  of  Information  by  Public    Rules    2009  made thereunder,  the  directions  for  blocking  of  website  for  access  by  public  is  issued  by Group Coordinator, Cyber Law Division, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology  (MeitY).  As  per  the  directions  of  MeitY,  instructions  for  blocking  of  1791 Uniform Resource Locators ( URLs) including Facebook pages and YouTube videos in 2016  and  2017  (till  30 th   November  2017)  have  been  issued  by  Department  of Telecommunications (DoT) to Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Further, a total of 2133 URLs were blocked in order to comply with the directions of various Courts in 2016 and 2017 (till 30 th  November 2017).

In addition, DoT has directed Internet Service Providers to block the list of 4694 URLs of  child sexual abuse material as provided by Central Bureau of Investigation.

(b) Government  received  complaint  pertaining  to  fake  news  of  PM  Laptop  Vitran Yojana  2017  about  distribution  of  free  laptops  using  fake  website  which  had  the potential to mislead masses to believe the fake scheme. Complaint was also received about a fake website issuing appointment letters on behalf of DD Kisan Channel. The alleged fake website looked similar to Doordarshan website creating an impression of the genuine website of Doordarshan. The concerned URLs were blocked.

(c) Internet  Service  Providers  implement  blocking  of  Internet  websites/Uniform Resource  Locators (URLs) by using suitable technology. However,  at present, technically it is not feasible to block specific items or contents contained in a particular URL/webpage.

(d) There  is  no  such  proposal  as  on  date.  However,  Ministry  of  Electronics  & Information Technology (MeitY) has issued an order in April 2017 for online blocking of Child  Pornography  URLs/  Websites  based  on  the  list  maintained  by  Internet  Watch Foundation (IWF), United Kingdom.

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