Google's Australian tentacle has been slammed for censoring a political party advert which had already aired on TV.

Australians go to the polls on Saturday and Google had already approved the advert in question. But on Thursday it abruptly stuck an "adults-only" tag on adverts from the Australian Sex Party, which campaigns against the country's increasingly clumsy censorship and intrusive social policies.

Senate candidate Fiona Patten said: “It’s an outrage and a farce. Given the number of times Google has spoken out against censorship over the past year in the wake of the government’s internet filtering plans, this is the last thing we would expect from them.”

The ASP began running an online campaign using the Google AdWords "Jerk Choices" and the ads were approved by Google with no restrictions. But the ad giant got cold feet and stuck warning notices on the ads on Thursday - without warning the party.

Patten said it was bitterly ironic that Google, which has voiced concerns about the planned compulsory internet filter for Australia, had now banned an advert which had already appeared on broadcast TV.

The party is seeking an explanation from Google.

The ad in question, which is pretty light-hearted stuff, is on YouTube here. ®