In a recent report by Surfshark, it has been revealed that the Indian government has requested Google to take down approximately 1.1 lakh pieces of content from its platforms between 2013 and 2022. India stands third among the countries making the most requests for content removal from Google.
Over the past decade, India registered 19.6k requests, with ‘defamation’ being the most cited reason. The lead researcher at Surfshark, Agneska Sablovskaja, highlighted the global surge in government requests for content removal, questioning their nature during times of conflict and wars.
The majority of India’s requests targeted content on YouTube (8.8k), followed by Google Play Apps (4.3k), and Web Search (1.4k). Notably, India’s requests for content removal from Google are eight times higher than those from Bangladesh.
The top three entities making content removal requests in India were the police, court orders directed at Google, and the Information and Communications authority. Russia topped the list globally with 2.15 lakh requests in the last nine years.
