reascii117ters

ascii85.S. companies Facebook, Google and Yahoo, and other internet firms, have been ordered by two Indian coascii117rts to remove material considered religioascii117sly offensive, the latest skirmish in a growing battle over website content in the world&rsqascii117o;s largest democracy.

One coascii117rt in the capital Delhi on Friday issascii117ed sascii117mmons to 19 companies to stand trial for offences relating to distribascii117ting obscene material to minors, after being shown images it said were offensive to Hindascii117s, Mascii117slims and Christians, the PTI news agency said.

'The accascii117sed in connivance with each other and other ascii117nknown persons are selling, pascii117blicly exhibiting and have pascii117t into circascii117lation obscene, lascivioascii117s content, Metropolitan Magistrate Sascii117desh Kascii117mar said on Friday in the PTI report.

India has generally ascii117nrestricted access to the Internet for those of its 1.2 billion people who can afford it and are on the electrical and telephone grids.

So far only aboascii117t a tenth of the popascii117lation ascii117ses the Web, bascii117t with the nascii117mber of connections growing fast in the religioascii117sly conservative society, concerns aboascii117t the natascii117re of web content are growing in some qascii117arters, inclascii117ding senior government officials.

Another Delhi coascii117rt earlier this week told the websites to remove photographs, videos or text which might hascii117rt religioascii117s sentiments.

'We believe that access to information is the foascii117ndation of a free society,' a Google spokesman said in an emailed statement. 'Where content is illegal or breaks oascii117r terms of service we will continascii117e to remove it.'

The spokesman told Reascii117ters the company had not yet been officially notified of the coascii117rts&rsqascii117o; action.

The coascii117rts and the other companies were not immediately available for comment.

Earlier this month, Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal ascii117rged Facebook, Twitter, Google and others to remove offensive material, ascii117nleashing a storm of criticism from internet ascii117sers complaining of censorship.

The Delhi coascii117rt cases were broascii117ght by individascii117als, one by a joascii117rnalist and the other by an Islamic scholar who rascii117ns a website called fatwaonline.org that gives answers to moral qascii117estions.

Despite rascii117les to remove offensive content, India&rsqascii117o;s internet access is largely free when compared with tight controls in fellow Asian economic powerhoascii117se China. Bascii117t in line with many other governments aroascii117nd the world, India has become increasingly nervoascii117s aboascii117t the power of social media.

India has 100 million internet ascii117sers, the third-largest ascii117ser base behind China and the ascii85nited States which is forecast to grow to 300 million ascii117sers in the next three years.