India asked Google to censor online content 225 times

NEW YORK: Internet giant Google has said it has logged 255 instances of India asking for online content censorship, marking a sharp rise of 49% in the second half of last year.

Google said India's request formed part of 1,000 demands from governments around the world in the second half of last year to take down items such as YouTube videos and search listings, and it complied with them more than half the time.

India's objections ranged from blockage of 133 YouTube videos, including 10 made on national security considerations and 77 on defamation, besides 26 web searches and 49 blogs, Google said in its report on Sunday.

Google said political comments were a prime target as the number of requests for the company to remove content from the reach of Internet users jumped manifold.