Sundar Pichai Says Google Will Comply With India¡¯s New IT Guidelines

Sundar Pichai in a statement has announced that Google is willing to comply with the revised MeitY guidelines that came into effect yesterday, May 26, according to a report by ET.

Reuters

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Pichai revealed this in a conversation with selected individuals of media from the Asia Pacific. "It's obviously early days and our local teams are very engaged. You know we comply with local laws and we will approach it with the same framework."

Pichai further added, ¡°We engage and explain to everyone the importance of information, promoting (the) free flow of information, but do want to respect legislative processes in democratic countries. We are committed to complying (with the laws)."

"And to the extent, there are requests (for information on users) we comply with and we will include that in our transparency reports. It is a framework with which we will operate it around the world."

Pichai in his statements has revealed that he respects the sovereignty of nations and the legislative process. He said that Google works hard to adapt and function and at times even push back if needed. Pichai has stated that Google would continue to operate in India with that framework.

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Pichai also spoke about the evolution in the regulation of tech companies by companies across the world, calling it an ¡°evolving landscape¡± that¡¯s the result of tech touching our society in ¡°deeper and broader ways¡±.

Pichai expects governments to not just scrutinise but also adopt regulatory frameworks, ¡°We see it as a natural part of societies figuring out how to govern and adapt themselves in this technology world. As a company, we are very clear about the values of free and open internet and its benefits."

Reuters

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Facebook¡¯s WhatsApp, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t very happy with the new guidelines and in fact, filed a case against WhatsApp on Tuesday in the Delhi High Court claiming that one of its new guidelines that ask to trace the origin of messages violates the fundamental right to privacy of the users.