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According to one proposal, expected to be submitted at the company's 2008 annual meeting, shareholders will ask Google to pledge not to engage in proactive censorship or host user data in countries that restrict political speech.

A second proposal, put forward by Harrington Investments, requests that the company create a board committee on human rights to review the implications of its policies on a worldwide basis.

Given the impact such policies would have on its operations in countries such as China, already a tricky trading ground for the company, Google is unsurprisingly recommending that investors vote against both proposals.

The web search leader will also ask investors to keep its ten directors in office for another year.