Facebook on Wednesday released its biannual Global Government Requests Report for the first half of 2015, detailing the number of times governments have asked the company for information on its millions of users and also asked for certain content to be blocked.
The report, which covers 93 countries and encompasses the period from January to June this year, shows the U.S. far outstripping the others with 26,579 requests for user data — of which Facebook provided 17,577 or just under 80%. India and the U.K. were second and third in that regard, with 6,268 and 4,489 requests, respectively.
India also tops the list of governments that blocked Facebook content in their countries, with 15,155 posts being restricted. This is more than three times that of second-placed Turkey, which blocked 4,496 posts.
Overall, a comparison with last year’s report shows that government requests for user data have increased by 18% and content restrictions have increased by 112%.
Governments that block Facebook posts
12 November 2015
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The requests for user data and the blocking of content by governments have increased significantly since last year
