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'.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Two Dubai-based Pakistan satellite stations pulled from the air following pressure from President Musharraf. Not a great ad for media freedom.