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DELHI: India has demanded social networking websites take down provocative messages and has blocked some online content after anonymous threats sparked an exodus of migrants.

Tens of thousands of workers and students from the remote north-east region returned home last week from Bangalore, Mumbai and other cities fearing reprisals from Muslims over recent ethnic clashes in the state of Assam.

The Indian government has said many of the web posts, fake video clips and phone messages spreading rumours of plans to target migrants were sent from Pakistan.

The Ministry of Communications said on Monday an order had been issued last week but that ''such inflammatory and harmful content continued to appear on the social networking sites''.

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It said it was meeting representatives of the sites to curb content, and that ''a lot more, and quicker, action is expected from them to address such a sensitive issue''.

Google issued a statement on Tuesday saying any content intended to incite violence was already prohibited on its products, including YouTube videos.

''We understand the gravity of the situation and continue to work closely with relevant authorities,'' it said in response to the government's demands.

Officials declined to name which other sites were affected, while Twitter and Facebook were not immediately available for comment.

The government also said 245 web pages had been blocked, declining to give further details.

Excerpt from:
India censors social networking sites after exodus