Facebook and Google have removed web pages considered offensive to India’s political and religious leadership in order to satisfy a court order. Indian prosecutors are suing a number of Internet companies on behalf of a Muslim religious leader who has accused them of hosting content that insults Islam. Google India did not reveal which sites were removed, while Facebook admitted to removing content from some 'Indian domain websites'.

Meanwhile, Indian authorities defended the actions taken. “There is no question of any censorship,” said Indian communications minister Sachin Pilot. “They all have to operate within the laws of the country.”

Related News:

Twitter censorship begins, by agreeing to delete posts if countries request it

Google 'censoring' blog content?

Read More at Mashable.com

Online social networking site Twitter said on Thursday that it will begin deleting users' tweets in countries that require it -- but it will still keep those deleted tweets visible to the rest of the world. Until now, the only way Twitter could comply with countries' limits was to remove the content globally.

Twitter said it will now delete tweets only "reactively" and on a case-by-case basis and will let the affected user know why the content is being withheld.

Read more.

CNN reports that Internet freedom is declining and that censorship is increasing all around the world. Google Transparency, a new online tool recently launched by Google, includes an interactive map where users can see the number of requests made by countries for Google to block or remove content. This tool allows for more transparency and sheds light on how the internet differs from one country to another.

Read more.

RapidTVNews reports that two controversial Arabic channels had been removed from Nilesat’s platform of services. It is not clear whether the channels have fallen foul of the censor – or just haven’t been paying their bills.

One report emanated from the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ website in Cairo (Ikhwanonline) and said “that the Egyptian government has suspended the transmission of the space channel, al-Hikmah, on Nilesat without giving any reasons for the action."

The website’s reason for the suspension was that the al-Hikmah space channel launched a campaign to lift the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, adding: "however, the public relations officer of the space channel denied that the reason was the campaign launched to lift the Gaza blockade and said that the real reason was the financial difficulty which the [satellite] channel was undergoing and which precluded payment of its debts to Nilesat."

The second problem channel is the al-Barakah satellite channel, also transmitting on Nilesat. The report, carried by BBC Monitoring, said that Egyptian security services had suspended transmissions of the al-Barakah space channel on Nilesat, claiming that the channel was "transmitting programmes that threatened the Egyptian national security”.

The report added that the al-Barakah satellite channel began its transmission seven months ago, announcing that it was an "economic, commercial, social and developmental channel based on Islamic values and contemporary Arab-Islamic culture."

RapidTVNews reports that a meeting of Arab ministers is going to consider regulations covering broadcasting over the Middle East, with plans to institute licensing measures for sattelite channels.

The current problem is that in many countries across the region, there is little or no need to be formally licensed to start broadcasting a satellite channel.

A meeting of the Arab world’s Information and Broadcasting Ministers in Cairo on Feb 12-13 will consider a pan-Arab approach to the problem, exacerbated because the responsibility for policing broadcasters is increasingly falling on satellite broadcasters.

Amin Bassouni, chairman of Nilesat is also head of the Permanent Committee for Mass Media, reporting to the Ministerial meeting. He says that a study was started last June to bring regulation to the Middle East.

Salah Hamza, CEO at Nilesat (pictured, above), says the lack of licensing in some countries places satellite operators in a difficult position. “The lack of regulation means we have to be judge and jury when complaints are made."

Read more.

Two Dubai-based Pakistan satellite stations pulled from the air following pressure from President Musharraf. Not a great ad for media freedom. Both GEO and ARY, which offer a variety of programming, including news, entertainment, sports and music, had been pulled from Pakistan's cable television system - along with other networks, including CNN and BBC - since President Musharraf declared a state of emergency on November 3.

Imran Aslan, president of Pakistan's satellite station GEO, broadcasting out of Dubai. GEO, one of the first companies to support Dubai Media City, has broadcast from the city since 2002. Not any more. As of midnight last night his station (along with ARY TV) has been pulled off the air, following a phone call from the Dubai government. It is understood both stations were handed a new code of conduct on Friday, had only a couple of hours to decide whether to sign it, then both got the axe.

Pulling the plug in Dubai means GEO and ARY will not be able to broadcast to the large (and influential) Pakistani expat community in the Gulf, North America and Europe.

The action has been criticized by the Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders. It is unclear what kind of pressure the government came under to close the stations (CNN, BBC and all the major news agencies continue to operate from Dubai, and will have access to GEO and ARY journalists and editors).

Read more at the Kipp Report.