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.
The court also issued directions to Yahoo Inc. and Facebook Inc. to take down offensive content from their sites. Facebook and Yahoo declined to comment.
The district court judge's orders stem from a civil suit filed against several Internet companies by Ajiaz Arshad Qasmi, a private citizen.
The suit alleges that the companies hosted content that is intolerant of religious communities and that could spark communal unrest in India.
That isn't the only challenge Web companies are facing in India. A separate criminal lawsuit brought by journalist Vinay Rai makes a similar set of allegations against Google, Facebook and others. A trial in that case is set to begin next month, but a Delhi High Court judge will hear the companies' appeal to quash the case Feb. 14.
Controversy over edgy Web content is growing as Internet use increases in India. Free-speech advocates have expressed concern that the lawsuits and recent actions by the government amount to censorship and muzzling of open debate.
Google's general policy is to monitor content flagged as offensive by users and check whether it violates the company's terms of usage or the laws of the countries in which it operates. In India, government officials often invoke laws against inciting enmity between communities as reasons for wanting to censor politically or religiously sensitive content.
Between January and June 2011, Google received government requests in India to remove 358 items of content and complied a little more than half the time, according to the company's Google Transparency Report. One local law-enforcement agency asked the company to remove 236 social-networking communities and profiles that were critical of a local politician, but Google denied the request on the grounds that the material didn't violate its terms of usage or local law.
Indian regulations put in place last year require Internet companies to remove within 36 hours of being notified offensive material, including content that is "grossly harmful" or "ethnically objectionable."
