Google’s latest Transparency Report shows an uptick in the number of requests by government agencies to be removed, but the total number is still low. The big lesson? When you’re assembling a list of issues to worry about, content removal requests will be low on the list.
Between July and December 2012, Google received six requests through court orders for content to be removed, and an additional 10 from government agencies. The most prominent? As the report notes: “We received a request from a local transportation agency to remove 119 YouTube videos for using a protected trademark without permission. We removed the videos.”
Australia was also one of 20 countries which made requests relating to clips on YouTube from the movie Innocence Of Muslims. Australia asked if the videos violated YouTube guideines; Google determined they did not.
Australian government agencies were more active in seeking user data. 584 requests relating to 711 users were made in the same six-month period; Google complied with 65 per cent of those requests, a similar rate to that found in the previous two reports.
Globally, removal requests rose. A total of 2285 requests from government agencies sought the removal of 24,179 pieces of content.
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