Facebook sees three-fold jump in need to restrict access to content in India

Facebook said it restricted access in India to 15,155 pieces of content reported primarily by law enforcement agencies and the India Computer Emergency Response Team within the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology because it was anti-religious and hate speech that could cause unrest and disharmony within India. This number is up drastically from the 5,832 content pieces blocked in the second half of last year.

A Facebook newsroom post said the report, “which covers the first half of 2015, provides information about the number of government requests we receive for data, as well as the number of pieces of content restricted for violating local law in countries around the world where we provide service”. The report includes updated information about the national security requests received from US authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and through National Security Letters.

The post said there was an increase in content restrictions and government requests for data globally. The amount of content restricted for violating local law increased by 112% over the second half of 2014, to 20,568 pieces of content, up from 9,707, it said. Government requests for account data increased across all countries by 18% over the same period, from 35,051 requests to 41,214.

Facebook reiterated that it does not provide any government with “back doors” or direct access to people’s data. “We scrutinise each request we receive for legal sufficiency, whether from an authority in the U.S., Europe, or elsewhere. If a request appears to be deficient or overly broad, we push back hard and will fight in court, if necessary,” the post by Deputy General Counsel Chris Sonderby added.

The Global Government Requests Report has over the last two years been a regular exercise by Facebook. “To protect people’s information, we will continue to apply a rigorous approach to every government request we receive. We’ll also keep working with partners in industry and civil society to push governments around the world to reform surveillance in a way that protects their citizens’ safety and security while respecting their rights and freedoms.”