Twitter sees 26% increase in governments' requests to remove content from journalists, news outlets

Twitter recorded a 26% increase in requests from global governments to remove content on the social media platform from verified journalists and news outlets in the second half of 2020 compared to the first half. Global governments made 361 tweet removal requests from verified journalists and/or news outlets compared to just 199 requests last year between July 1 and Dec. 31 of 2020 amid COVID-19, Twitter’s latest transparency report released Wednesday shows.Removal requests came mostly from India (128 requests) and Turkey (108), followed by Pakistan (52), Russia (28), Brazil (16), Mexico (9), Thailand (9), Ireland (3), France (2), Colombia (2) and Venezuela (2).TWITTER RESTRICTS ACCOUNT OF EXPERT WHO MOCKED CHINA LEADER In total, five of the 361 tweets were removed in accordance with national laws. Reuters first reported the numbers on Wednesday after Twitter gave the outlet an exclusive look at its latest data.Twitter also received more than 14,600 information requests from governments, including more than 2,000 emergency information requests, targeting more than 51,000 accounts in total. The company saw a 15% increase in information requests during the second half of 2020 and complied with 30% of requests, according to the report. India and the United States were the top…
Read More