India ranks third globally for Google content removal

As per the report of Surfshark, Governmental agencies in India have remarkably increased their requests for content removal from Google over the past decade, positioning the country as the third-highest requester globally. The study, analyzing Google’s bi-annual content removal reports from 2009 to 2023, indicates a significant rise in removal requests worldwide, with India’s requests surging by 26% from 2021 to 2022, marking it as a record-breaking year with a 50% increase.

India has been active in regulating online content, with various laws and regulations governing internet usage and content moderation. This could include content related to defamation, hate speech, copyright infringement, or national security concerns.

India’s government has made 19.6k requests for content removal from Google between 2013 and 2022, averaging 5 requests per day. Among the top reasons cited by the Indian government, defamation accounted for 20.1% of the requests, followed by impersonation (16.3%) and privacy/security concerns (8.3%).

The requests encompassed a substantial number of items, totaling 115.5k, averaging 6 items per request. Notably, since 2019, the primary requesters in India for content removal from Google have been the police, court orders directed at Google, and the Information and Communications Authority.

Among the top countries for content removal requests, Russia led with 215k requests, followed by South Korea (27k), India (20k), Turkey (19k), Brazil (12k), and the US (11k). Notably, over two-thirds of analyzed countries had fewer than 100 requests in the last decade, underscoring the rarity of such requests in most nations.

The study revealed that governments have sought content removal from 50 different Google products, predominantly from YouTube (175k), Google Search (104k), and Blogger (17k).

The specifics of India ranking third globally for content removal from Google would depend on various factors such as the number of requests received, the nature of the content, and Google's policies and procedures for handling such requests. It's essential to consider the context behind these removals, including legal frameworks, cultural sensitivities, and free speech considerations.

Indeed, India's substantial increase in content removal requests from Google is indicative of the evolving landscape of digital governance, not only in India but also globally. As governments grapple with the complexities of regulating online content, they face the dual challenge of upholding freedom of expression while addressing legitimate concerns related to national security, public safety, and individual rights.