Google to shut down certain communities on Orkut on Brazil’s request

Search engine giants Google operates an unofficial social networking project in the form of Orkut which is very popular in some South American countries especially Brazil. However, the service is more in news for its misuse by drug sellers and other illegal activities.

Google has now confirmed that they would be shutting down some communities on its popular Orkut social networking site. This is to comply with Brazil government’s demand who claims that these communities advocate violence and human rights violations.

The company would be shutting down all the communities, which break Orkut’s terms of service. This includes communities conducting illegal and unauthorized activities. Google said in a statement on this development: “Orkut does not condone any of the communities that advocate violence and are a threat to human rights.”

Brazilian Rep. Luiz Eduardo Greenhalgh confirmed that the search engine giant has promised to remove six Web sites from Orkut and help police identify those who posted the pages as part of a preliminary accord.

He said: “I am satisfied with progress of the agreement, but we only expect to reach a final agreement in 15 days.”