Google: Google released its semiannual transparency report, including nearly 30 examples of content that dozens of governments have asked the search engine giant to remove. Overall, Google received 3,105 requests from world governments between July 2013 and December 2013 to wipe 14,367 pieces of content. In the previous 6-month allotment, from December 2012 to July 2013, 3,846 requests were made—the highest number since Google began releasing transparency reports in 2010. Overall, 2013 saw a 60 percent increase in takedown requests from 2012.
“Our Transparency Report is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online,” Google explained in an accompanying blog post. “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.”
India: A video by Shailesh Gandhi on how to use the RTI Act effectively.
Pakistan: Commentary on the weaknesses of transparency policy in Pakistan by Farhan Anwar, an urban planner and runs a non-profit organisation based in Karachi city focusing on urban sustainability issues.
United States: The FOIA Project issues a statistical analysis showing that 422 FOIA lawsuits were filed this year, an increase of 50 over 2013 and the highest level since 2001.
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