Government not trying to regulate social media: Sibal

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) IT and telecommunications minister Kapil Sibal Thursday reiterated that the government doesn't want to control social media but stressed the need for some regulations.

Sibal, who has been labelled in some sections of media as an enemy of social media, said social media is the most powerful tool but can also be very dangerous.

"It is not about control but how to have some regulations. We don't want to control the social media," said Sibal on the sidelines of the launch of enewspaper of India.

"If we look into the licence agreement of the electronic media, then there is a violation everyday. But we also realise that the electronic media also has some self professed regulations in place. Similarly we feel that the social media will also realise and have regulations in place," he said.

Sibal said whenever the government talks about regulating the social media it is seen as if it is trying to curb the freedom of speech and expression.

"Whenever we talk about regulations in social media the government is attacked. A situation is created that the government is trying to curb the freedom of expression. But no media should be outside the law of the country," he said.

Sibal admitted that it is very difficult to take any action against social media.

"Since a person can stay anonymous in the social media there is no jurisdiction. How do we regulate the social media since they are not registered in India ... they say their servers are based in US," he said.