Twitter Reports Huge Spike in Governments’ Requests to Remove Content

Twitter warned Thursday that governments across the globe are asking the corporate to take away content material or eavesdrop on personal particulars of person accounts at an alarming fee.

The social media firm revealed in a brand new report that it fielded a file variety of authorized calls for — almost 60,000 throughout a six-month interval final 12 months —- from native, state or nationwide governments that needed Twitter to take away content material from accounts or reveal confidential info equivalent to direct messages or person places.

“We’re seeing governments become more aggressive in how they try to use legal tactics to unmask the people using our service, collect information about account owners and also using legal demands as a way to try and silence people,” Yoel Roth, the top of Twitter’s security and integrity, stated in a dialog broadcast on the positioning Thursday.

The US makes up the vast majority of calls for for account info, accounting for 20 p.c of the requests. India follows carefully behind.

Twitter says it complied absolutely with roughly 40 p.c of all asks for info on person accounts.

Japan, which can also be a frequent requestor for account info, makes probably the most requests of Twitter to take down content material from accounts. Japan made greater than 23,000 requests — half of all requests — for content material to be eliminated. Russia adopted carefully behind on its takedown asks.

Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, additionally reported a rise in authorities asks for personal person information throughout the identical timeframe.

Twitter additionally reported an enormous spike in requests from governments that focused verified journalists and information retailers over the past half of 2021.

Governments additionally made a file variety of authorized calls for on 349 accounts of verified journalists or information retailers across the globe between July and December of final 12 months — a 103 p.c improve.

Twitter didn’t present a breakdown of which nations made these requests on journalists’ accounts or how lots of the asks they complied with.

Governments are utilizing the social media corporations to silence critics and censor journalists, Rob Mahoney, the chief director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, stated in an emailed assertion to The Associated Press.

“This surge in government demands for content takedowns and information on journalists is part of a global trend of increasing censorship and manipulation of information,” Mahoney said. “Social media platforms are vital for reporters and they must do more to resist government attempts to silence critical voices.”