Google reveals sharp rise in requests for removal of political content (Turkey leads the pack)

Google revealed a sharp rise in requests from governments asking for political content to be removed from the web in its latest transparency report published on Thursday.

From January to June the search giant received 3,846 government requests to remove content from its services – a 68% increase over the second half of 2012.

“Over the past four years, one worrying trend has remained consistent: governments continue to ask us to remove political content. Judges have asked us to remove information that’s critical of them, police departments want us to take down videos or blogs that shine a light on their conduct, and local institutions like town councils don’t want people to be able to find information about their decision-making processes,” Susan Infantino, legal director, said in a blogpost.

“These officials often cite defamation, privacy and even copyright laws in attempts to remove political speech from our services. In this particular reporting period, we received 93 requests to take down government criticism and removed content in response to less than one third of them. Four of the requests were submitted as copyright claims,” she said.

Google reported a large increase in requests from Turkey where it received 1,673 requests from the authorities to remove content, nearly a ten-fold increase over the second half of last year. About two-thirds of the total requests – 1,126 – called for the removal of content related to alleged violations of internet law 5651, which censors online speech.

In Russia Google reported a rise in requests after the introduction of a blacklist law last year. The law aimed to crackdown on criminal websites, paedophilia and suicide promotion. But critics charge it has been used to censor political speech online. Google received 257 removal requests during this reporting period, more than double the total number of requests it received in 2012.

In the US Google and its peers are fighting to be allowed to disclose how often they receive legal demands for information from the National Security Agency (NSA). Those requests are made through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court and the companies are legally barred from disclosing them.

On Wednesday a presidential review panel, looking into the NSA in the wake of whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations, suggested tech companies should be allowed to disclose Fisa requests.

“While the information we present in our transparency report is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online, it does demonstrate a worrying upward trend in the number of government requests, and underscores the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests. As we continue to add data, we hope it will become increasingly useful and informative in policy debates and decisions around the world,” said Infantino, the legal director.

From January to June 2013, the following countries made the most requests to remove content:

• Turkey (1,673 requests for 12,162 items)
• United States (545 requests for 3,887 items)
• Brazil (321 requests for 1,635 items)
• Russia (257 requests for 277 items)
• India (163 requests for 714 items)

In the US Google received 545 requests for the removal of 3,887 items. Among those requests was one from a local law enforcement official to remove a search result linking to a news article about his record as an officer. Google did not remove the search result.

In the UK Google received 117 requests for 556 items to be removed. One request came from a law firm representing a former member of parliament to remove a preview from Google Books that allegedly defamed the MP by suggesting he was engaged in illegal activity. The preview was removed. Another came from a local government council to remove a blogpost that allegedly defamed the council. Google did not remove the blogpost.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/19/google-transparency-report-political-content