Facing Lawsuit, Google Drops Some Content in India

Google removed some controversial content from its Indian services to comply with a court order in a civil lawsuit, the latest twist in the legal drama over Web censorship in the world's largest democracy.

A person familiar with the matter said Google removed content from its search service, YouTube video site and Blogger after receiving an order to do so from Judge Mukesh Kumar of a New Delhi district court. The material, which includes images of religious figures, has been removed only on Google's localized India Web domain—it is still accessible elsewhere. In a written statement, Google said: "This step is in accordance with Google's longstanding policy of responding to court orders." The company didn't say which specific items it removed.