New Delhi, February 6
Internet giants Google Inc and Facebook removed content from some Indian domain websites on Monday following a court directive warning them of a crackdown "like China" if they did not take steps to protect religious sensibilities.

The two are among 21 companies asked to develop a mechanism to block objectionable material after a private petitioner took them to court over images deemed offensive to Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

The case has stoked fears about censorship in the world's largest democracy. "(Our) review team has looked at the content and disabled this content from the local domains of search, YouTube and Blogger," Google spokeswoman Paroma Roy Chowdhury said.

At the heart of the dispute is a law that the government passed last year making companies responsible for user content posted on their websites, and giving them 36 hours to take down content if there's a complaint.

Last month, the companies said it was not possible for them to block content. Google's Roy Chowdhury declined to comment on what had since been removed, and a Facebook representative said only that the company would release a statement later.

A lower court in New Delhi told the companies on Monday to put in writing the steps they had taken to block offensive content, and submit reports to the court within 15 days.

Google, Facebook, Yahoo! and Microsoft have appealed in the Delhi High Court against a criminal case successfully brought by a petitioner. "If the companies have actually removed some content, they should put in place a mechanism to do it regularly, instead of waiting for a court case every time," said Vinay Rai, the petitioner.

"Microsoft has filed an application for rejection of the suit on the grounds that it disclosed no cause of action against Microsoft," a spokesperson said. "The matter is sub-judice and no further comments can be given," he added. — Reuters