Google has called on the US and other western governments to challenge internet censorship as a restraint on global trade, opening another front in its campaign to gain more open access to countries, such as China, that restrict online information.

Its case, spelt out in a detailed paper released on Monday, comes in the wake of concern at the search company that its tense relationship with China would lead to increasing restrictions, making it harder to compete in the world’s most populous internet market.

But Google denied the latest campaign had been prompted by any particular country. “It’s not to do with what’s happened in China – it’s a broader attempt to get at these issues,” said Bob Boorstin, Google’s director of public policy. “Governments that block the free flow of information not only are breaking trade agreements in certain ways, but they’re hurting their own economies as well.”