The Government today granted sanction to prosecute 21 social networking sites for allegedly promoting enmity between classes and causing prejudice to national integration.

The Department of Information Technology, in its report, told a Delhi court that there is sufficient material to proceed against them. Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are among the 21 networking websites to be prosecuted.

The two-page report was placed after the court directed Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to get the summons served on over ten foreign-based companies. The summons were issued on December 23 last but they remained unserved.

The court had on December 23 issued summons to 21 social networking websites for allegedly committing offences of criminal conspiracy, sale of obscene books and sale of obscene objects to young persons.