India warns Twitter over ethnic violence

NEW DELHI: India has threatened to take action against micro-blogging website Twitter over content alleged to have inflamed ethnic tensions against migrants from the northeast, reports said Thursday.

Internet posts, phone text messages and fake video clips are blamed for spreading rumours that Muslims would attack students and workers from India's northeastern region living in Bangalore and other southern cities.

Tens of thousands of people fled back to the remote northeast last week, fearing an outbreak of violence.

The government demanded that Twitter and other social network websites remove what it has described as "inflammatory and harmful" material. It has also blocked some online content and banned bulk text messages.

"If Twitter fails to respond to our request, we will take appropriate action," senior home ministry official R.K. Singh was quoted as saying in the Times of India newspaper.

"We have asked the information technology ministry to serve them a notice." (...)