Internet giant Google, which operates the social networking site Orkut, removed a fake profile of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati from the website on Tuesday.
"The fake profile of Chief Minister Mayawati violated Orkut's policy on impersonation and it has been removed," a Google spokesperson said.
"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.
Mayawati was reportedly livid about her fake profile on Orkut, which was discovered on August 25.
Uttar Pradesh Home Secretary Javed Ahmed had said on Monday that the government would take strict action against the offenders.
The spokesperson said that the company has a reporting tool that state police authorities can use 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 the Information Technology Act. Even the proposed amendments to Indian Cyber Law is a feeble attempt to make identity thefts a bailable offence," said Pawan Duggal, a cyber law expert and Supreme Court lawyer.
"Stringent deterrent provisions of civil and criminal liability for such crimes is required to tackle them," he said.
Duggal also said that it was technically possible to identify the last computer from where the mysterious content was uploaded by the Internet protocol tracking mechanism.
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