Two of the world's leading providers of online services have criticised the federal government's plan to censor internet content as heavy handed.

Both Google and Yahoo say the government's plans to introduce a mandatory internet filter threaten to restrict legitimate access to information.

"Our primary concern is that the scope of content to be filtered is too wide," Google said.

The comments are included in a list of a 174 submissions related to the filtering policy, released on Tuesday by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.

Google said that while protecting the free exchange of ideas and information could not be without some limits, people should retain the right to freedom of expression.