Behind Russia, India Made Second-Most Content Removal Requests To Google In 2021
Google on Friday unveiled its "Content Removal Transparency Report" for the time period between January-June 2021 based on local requests by governments to take certain articles off the Google ecosystem.
The latest report by Google includes content removal requests from governments and courts around the world, including India where Google has been facing heat over anti-trust issues and content moderation.
Where is India in terms of removal requests?
According to Google, a global spike has been reported in removal requests for content, both in terms of volume and the number of individual items to be taken off.
In terms of "volume of requests" for the time period between January and June 2021, India made the second-most number of requests in terms of volume for content removal, trailing only Russia.
South Korea, Turkey, Pakistan, Brazil, United States, Vietnam and Indonesia followed in India's footsteps for removal requests based on volume.
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For individual items that countries sought to remove from Google's search ecosystem, Indonesia topped the list. India took the sixth spot in terms of removal requests corresponding to the "volume of items". After Indonesia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, United States, Turkey and Brazil made the most number of content item removal requests.
Why do countries request removal of content from Google?
Google claims that it receives content removal requests from countries around the globe based on court orders, written requests from governments, and requests from law enforcement agencies.
It's important to point out that sometimes the same request may require removal of multiple pieces of content, while there may sometimes be multiple requests that demand the removal of the same article.
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India's stance on Big Tech can changed considerably over the last two years, with new IT rules mandating on-site grievance officers as well as a stringent compliance with local laws.
What do you think, should Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook be reined in or is it an attack of an individual's freedom of speech on the internet?
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Citation
?Graff, D. (2021, October 21). Our Content Removal Transparency Report for January to June 2021. Google.?
