From national security to copyright disputes, governments worldwide are pushing Google to erase digital content at an unprecedented scale. A new study by Surfshark reveals which countries lead in content regulation requests, why they’re demanding removals, and how these takedowns impact online information.
As per the data Google has received 330k content removal requests since 2020 which started from 44k in 2020 and reached 100k by 2023. About 150 countries have made requests to Google about content removal, with Russia making the most requests with 211k requests total. South Korea has made 10% of content removal requests, with about 33k requests and India has made 5% content removal requests with 16k requests. In short, there were about 130 content removal requests per day from Russia, 20 requests per day from South Korea and 9 requests per day from India. Some other countries which have made a high number of content removal requests are Germany, Pakistan, Taiwan, France, Turkey, US and Indonesia.
There are different types of content removal requests that have been made to Google, like removing content from Google products, services, Gmail, Google translate or blogger. But this decade, 54% of the requests were for removing content from YouTube while 31% were for Web Search, which together makes 85% of total requests. Russia made the most requests for removing content from Web Search and YouTube. India made 8k requests to remove content from YouTube, followed by Turkey which made about 6k requests. South Korea made the second highest requests for content removal on Web Search (16k), followed by France with 3k requests for content removal on Web Search.
Coming towards the reasons why these countries requested content removals, there were about 20 different reasons why countries did so. National Security was the main concern for countries requesting content removal on Google with 96k requests, followed by Copyright with 71k requests and Privacy and Security with 37k requests. Altogether, 60% of the content removal requests were because of these three reasons. 96% of the content removal requests made by Russia were because of National Security while 95% of them were because of copyright. 70% of the requests made by South Korea for content removal were due to Privacy and Security. Most of the content removal requests because of privacy and security were made on Web Search, Google Images and YouTube while Defamation and fraud related requests were made on YouTube, Web Search, Google Ads and local reviews.
Government influence over online content is becoming more pronounced, with regulatory powers shaping what remains visible on the internet. While removal requests are often justified under legal or security concerns, they also grant authorities a quiet yet effective tool to control narratives. This expanding oversight blurs the line between protection and suppression, limiting public discourse under the guise of regulation. As platforms comply, the digital landscape shifts, leaving users with a version of the internet increasingly curated by those in power.
Read next: AI Proficiency Becomes a Must-Have as Companies Prioritize AI Integration
As per the data Google has received 330k content removal requests since 2020 which started from 44k in 2020 and reached 100k by 2023. About 150 countries have made requests to Google about content removal, with Russia making the most requests with 211k requests total. South Korea has made 10% of content removal requests, with about 33k requests and India has made 5% content removal requests with 16k requests. In short, there were about 130 content removal requests per day from Russia, 20 requests per day from South Korea and 9 requests per day from India. Some other countries which have made a high number of content removal requests are Germany, Pakistan, Taiwan, France, Turkey, US and Indonesia.
There are different types of content removal requests that have been made to Google, like removing content from Google products, services, Gmail, Google translate or blogger. But this decade, 54% of the requests were for removing content from YouTube while 31% were for Web Search, which together makes 85% of total requests. Russia made the most requests for removing content from Web Search and YouTube. India made 8k requests to remove content from YouTube, followed by Turkey which made about 6k requests. South Korea made the second highest requests for content removal on Web Search (16k), followed by France with 3k requests for content removal on Web Search.
Coming towards the reasons why these countries requested content removals, there were about 20 different reasons why countries did so. National Security was the main concern for countries requesting content removal on Google with 96k requests, followed by Copyright with 71k requests and Privacy and Security with 37k requests. Altogether, 60% of the content removal requests were because of these three reasons. 96% of the content removal requests made by Russia were because of National Security while 95% of them were because of copyright. 70% of the requests made by South Korea for content removal were due to Privacy and Security. Most of the content removal requests because of privacy and security were made on Web Search, Google Images and YouTube while Defamation and fraud related requests were made on YouTube, Web Search, Google Ads and local reviews.
Government influence over online content is becoming more pronounced, with regulatory powers shaping what remains visible on the internet. While removal requests are often justified under legal or security concerns, they also grant authorities a quiet yet effective tool to control narratives. This expanding oversight blurs the line between protection and suppression, limiting public discourse under the guise of regulation. As platforms comply, the digital landscape shifts, leaving users with a version of the internet increasingly curated by those in power.
Read next: AI Proficiency Becomes a Must-Have as Companies Prioritize AI Integration
