Google had received 65 requests asking for 333 items to be removed during this time, the American company have complied with 82% of these demands. Six of the removal requests were for videos on it's YouTube site said to have raised national security concerns. Another 12 removals were due to court orders over defamation and privacy issues.
Company spokesman Stephen Rosenthal says "As the report shows, we don't simply censor on request, we ensure there is a case for removal". The company released the data as part of it's latest Transparency Report which is published twice a year.
The requests for removal of data from the UK was greater than that of many other countries. With "Germany making 118 requests, a 6% rise over the previous period; France making nine demands, a 61% fall; and the US making 92 requests, a 70% rise."
Google did reject requests to remove 236 communities and profiles from India on it's Orkut social network due to complaints that the content was too critical of a local politician. But it did restrict users in Turkey from seeing private information about the lives of political officials. Access to 225 YouTube videos allegedly insulting Thailand's monarchy, which is illegal under local law, were also restricted.
News article written by Michelle
Image via Wikipedia.
