Google has said it is alarmed at the frequency with which Western governments are asking them to remove material accessible via its search engine.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Senior Policy Analyst with Google Dorothy Chou said that since 2002 the number of governments censoring the internet has increased from four to 42.
Google's Transparency Report suggests that more than 25 countries have blocked access to the search engine altogether.
Ms Chou said that Google published its report to look at how government policies and laws are shaping access to the internet.
The US, Germany and Brazil top the list of countries asking Google to remove material.
Ms Chou said that "in Spain, we see a trend where they asked us to remove 270 different search results that related to political figures or public figures around the world."
She said it ''is concerning to us because it's an issue of political speech. When it comes to political speech it's coming from countries that we wouldn't normally expect."
Ms Chou was in Dublin today for a conference on internet freedom organised as part of Ireland's chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe.
The conference was hearing from internet experts from around the world on the issues of freedom of expression, internet restriction and intellectual property rights.
Opening the conference the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, who is currently chairperson of the OSCE, said the internet has revolutionised communication and society over the last 20 years.
He said internet freedom must be protected but genuine concerns must also be addressed.
