Google removed about 59,350 pieces of content from its social media platforms in April, following over 27,700 complaints received from individual users in India. In its first monthly transparency report published in line with the new social media and intermediary guidelines, Google said about 96.2 per cent or 26,707 such complaints were regarding copyright issues; followed by trademark (1.3 per cent); defamation (1 per cent); other legal issues (1 per cent); counterfeit (0.4) per cent; and circumvention (0.1 per cent). Google has sought two months to submit a more granular report with data on how the removal took place. Google said that it removed content which violated its community guidelines, product policies, or local legal requirement.
According to the report, between April 1 and April 30, Google received 27,726 complaints. “The number reflects the total number of complaints received from individual users located in India via designated mechanisms during the one-month reporting period,” Google said. “These complaints relate to third-party content that is believed to violate local laws or personal rights on Google’s significant social media intermediary (SSMI) platforms, including YouTube. This data also includes individual user complaints accompanied by a court order.”
According to Google, ‘some requests alleged infringement of intellectual property rights, while others claim violation of local laws prohibiting types of content on grounds such as defamation’. Of these complaints, a majority of complaints i.e. 96.2 per cent complaints were due to Copyright issues, followed by Trademark at 1.3 per cent. Other reasons cited for complaints included Defamation, Counterfeit and Circumvention.
The ‘removal actions’ number represents the number of items where a piece of content was removed or restricted during the one-month reporting period as a result of a specific complaint. As per the FAQ section of the report, users can submit a complaint via Google’s Grievance Officer Landing Page for India.
Google has sought two months to submit a more granular report with data on how the removal took place. “To allow sufficient time for data processing and validation, there will be a two-month lag for reporting,” the report said. Facebook has said it will submit its interim report on July 2.
A more detailed report will follow on July 15.