Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., the owner of Brazil's most-used social networking Web site, is seeking partnerships to help identify illegal content.

Google will let non-governmental organizations in Brazil monitor the Orkut social-networking service, report illegal postings and request that data be saved for future legal action. Alexandre Hohagen, general director of Google's Brazilian unit, announced the plan today at a news conference in Sao Paulo.

``We want NGOs to join us so they can help monitor illegal content,'' Hohagen said. ``The partnership is initially focused on content related to child pornography and pedophiles.''

Google, based in Mountain View, California, is stepping up efforts to reduce illegal content on Orkut. Federal prosecutors in Sao Paulo state last year filed a civil lawsuit against Google's Brazilian unit for failing to comply with requests to provide data on people suspected of using Orkut to commit crimes.

Google has agreed to work with authorities in some Brazilian states this year to make it easier to remove offensive content from Orkut. Some 20 million Brazilians use the service, Hohagen said.

Sao Paulo prosecutors asked Google to provide information on 233 user groups in Orkut as a part of a crackdown on Internet crime that started a year ago. They didn't say how many of the requests hadn't been met.

Google's Brazilian unit failed to turn over information on users under investigation for distributing pornographic and racist material, the federal prosecutors said in an e-mail last month.

Talks With Prosecutors

Google is in talks with Sao Paulo prosecutors to improve communication and put an end to the lawsuit, Aline de Almada Messias, the Brazilian unit's legal director, said today.

Starting next week, the unit will become the legal representative of Google in Brazil and prosecutors will be able to request information on suspects directly from it instead of from an outside law firm, Messias said.

The new arrangement will meet demands by Sao Paulo prosecutors that the unit be legally responsible to provide the information, Messias said. The unit will then send the request to the parent company, which stores the information, she said.

Google shares rose $2.65 to $527.80 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. They have gained 15 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Romina Nicaretta in Sao Paulo at at Rnicaretta@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 5, 2007 16:05 EDT