Google Overhauls Transparency Report, Makes Government Takedown Requests Easier to Di

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

Google's latest transparency report has a new look

Don't be surprised if Google's new Transparency Report for the June through December period in 2013 looks different to you, that's by design. The search giant explains in a blog post that after doing things the same way for nearly five years, it was time to give its Transparency Report an update. In addition to a new look, there are also some new features that are intended to make the information more meaningful.
Google worked with Blue State Digital to help design a more interactive experience that allows the company to include additional information, such as explanations of its process, and to highlight stats.
"Our Transparency Report is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online. However, it does provide a lens on the things that governments and courts ask us to remove, underscoring the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests," Google said. "We hope that you'll take the time to explore the new report to learn more about the government removals across Google."
From June to December 2013, Google said it received 3,105 government requests to remove 14,637 pieces of content. The top three products that governmetns requested removals of were Blogger (1,066 requests), Search (841 requests), and YouTube (765 requests). The majority of government removal requests cited defamation (38 percent) as the reason.
You can view the new report here.


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