Faacebook is saying which countries are censoring their news feed in a global transparency report, which covers the second half of 2013. According to them, India is the top offender with 4,765 content restrictions. The main reason for the blocks has to do with “criticism of a religion or the state”. Second on the list was Turkey with just over 2,014 blocks.
The top two have a massive amount of “blocks” comapred to Pakistan, who sit at number three on the list with 162 requests. Facebook only restricts content to the countries who request the block, noting they “do not remove content from our service entirely unless we determine that it violates our community standards.” Facebook says the blocking approach is much like the one they use for Government requests for account information:
We take a similar approach to government requests for account information. When we receive a request for information, we carefully assess whether we are legally required to comply. As we have long emphasized, we push back on requests that are overly broad, vague or do not comply with legal standards. When we are required to provide information, in most instances we share basic information only – such as name and IP address.
Facebook goes on to note they’re pushing Governments for better transparency, noting their Reform Government Surveillance program. The US led the way when it came to requests for information with over 12,000 requests, affecting 18,715 accounts. Facebook gave the Government what they were looking for 81% of the time, but say they’re pushing for “all governments around the world seek access to user account information only through lawful process”.
Source: Facebook
It won’t be long before the UK tops this list thanks to the BPI and friends.