Google India protects blogger
By Shalini Singh

Google India has been fighting to protect the rights of an Indian blogger for the last few months. Mumbai-based Gremach hires out heavy equipment to infrastructure projects in India. Gremach has a number of sister companies, one of which took out a controlling stake in coal mines in Mozambique in 2007.  Gremach has a number of high profile clients like the Reliance Group, L&T and Punj Lloyd Ltd among others.

Earlier this year, an anonymous blogger used Google blogging services to write articles titled ‘Toxic Winter’ attacking the Gremach Company.  The articles were critical of Gremach operations in Mozambique.

Gremach filed a case with the police and petitioned the courts for the removal of the article.  Google India refused to hand over the IP address identifying the blogger to the Mumbai police.  Gremach has now gone higher and appealed to the Bombay High Court asking it to force Google India to give up the blogger. 

This would be the first time that the higher Indian courts will decide (and set precedents) on the right to blog anonymously against large corporations.  While Google will never hand over a blogger in similar circumstances in USA or Europe, the boundaries have yet to be tested in countries like India.  Google in USA has played host to bloggers like Fake Steve Jobs who has satirically swiped every senior manager at Google.  Google continues to index popular gossip websites like Valleywag which have run stories attacking every senior tech official in USA including those in Google.  Credit where it’s due to Google.

Most of the fellow bloggers (including me) have natural sympathies for anyone blogging to give a personal view or say something in public interest.  Everyone supports such blogging which is healthy for a democratic society.  What is harder to defend is if any of Gremach’s rivals uses the cloak of anonymity to harm a business rival.  If they have any facts exposing the wrong doings of Gremach it should be handed over to respected national media like Indian Express and Tehelka.  Blogging to harm a corporate rival actually harms the blogging community in India.

The anon blogger has now voluntarily removed his blog from Google. We are left wondering whether it was done in public interest or by a rival undermining Gremach. Or a battle in Indian courts was too daunting for any individual.   All the signs were that Google, India was prepared to fight the next round in Court to protect its bloggers in India.