New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) It is difficult for Indian security agencies to keep a check on the contents of social networking sites because of the encrypted data, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said Friday.


"The solution service providers of social networking sites secure certain communication to and from such networking sites by employing encryption, which pose challenges to security agencies to keep a vigil on contents of such sites," he said.

However, the government regularly interacts with the telecom service providers and solution service providers to address the issue and implement solutions to the extent possible keeping in view security, service and developmental needs of the country, he said.

During April 2010 to July 2011, 33 incidents of misuse of social networking sites, related to phishing of objectionable content pertaining to political leaders, religion, national security and individuals were reported to the national nodal agency Indian Computer Emergency Response Team.

The ministry of telecom had last month also informed the Rajya Sabha that it has received a letter from the home ministry to ensure effective monitoring of social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook.