Learn To A Greater Extent Than Transparency Into Authorities Requests

About 2 years ago, nosotros launched our interactive started past times disclosing information nigh authorities requests. Since then, we’ve been steadily adding novel features, similar graphs showing traffic patterns as well as disruptions to Google services from dissimilar countries. And simply a duo weeks ago, nosotros launched a novel department showing the requests nosotros larn from copyright holders to take away search results.

The near-real-time, but authorities asking information is updated inward six-month increments because it’s a people-driven, manual process. Today we’re releasing information showing authorities requests to remove weblog posts or videos or paw over user information made from July to Dec 2011.

Unfortunately, what we’ve seen over the past times duo years has been troubling, as well as today is no different. When nosotros started releasing this information inward 2010, nosotros too added annotations amongst roughly of the to a greater extent than interesting stories behind the numbers. We noticed that authorities agencies from dissimilar countries would sometimes inquire us to take away political content that our users had posted on our services. We hoped this was an aberration. But straight off nosotros know it’s not.

This is the 5th information gear upwardly that we’ve released. And simply similar every other fourth dimension before, we’ve been asked to have got downwardly political speech. It’s alarming non alone because gratis appear is at risk, but because roughly of these requests come upwardly from countries yous mightiness non suspect—Western democracies non typically associated amongst censorship.

For example, inward the minute one-half of end year, Castilian regulators asked us to take away 270 search results that linked to blogs as well as articles inward newspapers referencing individuals as well as world figures, including mayors as well as world prosecutors. In Poland, nosotros received a asking from a world establishment to take away links to a site that criticized it. We didn’t comply amongst either of these requests.

In improver to releasing novel information today, we’re too adding a characteristic update which makes it easier to run into in aggregate across countries how many removals nosotros performed inward reply to courtroom orders, equally opposed to other types of requests from authorities agencies. For the half dozen months of information we’re releasing today, nosotros complied amongst an average of 65 pct of courtroom orders, equally opposed to 47 pct of to a greater extent than informal requests.

We’ve rounded upwardly roughly additional interesting facts inward the annotations department of the Transparency Report. We realize that the numbers nosotros portion tin alone render a pocket-size window into what’s happening on the spider web at large. But nosotros practise promise that past times beingness transparent nigh these authorities requests, nosotros tin boot the bucket on to contribute to Earth fighting nigh how authorities behaviors are shaping our web.

Posted past times Dorothy Chou, Senior Policy Analyst