In the last six months of 2011, authorities across the world submitted over 1,000 requests to remove search results or YouTube content.
Google’s Transparency Report describes the “alarming trend” as a disturbing attack against free speech.
Dorothy Chou, senior policy analyst for Google, explains that the trend is “alarming not only because free expression is at risk, but because some of these requests come from countries you might not suspect — Western democracies not typically associated with censorship.”
The most government requests come from the United States, United Kingdom and India. The report shows how many times each government “sought to censor search results, drop YouTube videos or look at user data in the second half of last year,” according to Engadget.
In its latest Transparency Report, Google reports complying with 65 percent of court orders and 47 percent of informal requests asking that content be removed.
When declining to remove content, Google often cites a EU law on eCommerce that states companies cannot remove content for which they are the host and not the producer.
In the last six months of 2011, authorities across the world submitted over 1,000 requests to remove search results or YouTube content.
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