Google Enumerates Government Requests

D H NG writes "In the aftermath of Google's exit from mainland China, it had sought to be more open about what it censors. Google has launched a new tool to track the number of government requests targeted at Google and YouTube. These include both requests for data and requests to take down data. A quick look at the tool shows that Brazil is the top country in both categories (largely because Orkut is popular there), and information for China cannot be disclosed because 'Chinese officials consider censorship demands as state secrets.' As part of its four-part plan, Google hopes to change the behavior of repressive governments, establish guiding principles for dealing with issues of free expression, build support online to protest repression, and better provide resources and support for developing technology designed to combat and circumvent Internet censorship."

Comments

Re:Why?

[D H NG]

Because this is what happens to people who "leak" "state secrets".

Re:Brazilian Censorship

[vbraga]

Writing a story denouncing a politician can get you a lawsuit.

More likely, it will get you a lawsuit for libel.

Brazilian law is very repressive. It's ranked as "Partly Free" by the Freedom House on its Map of Press Freedom.

Unfortunately, public awareness for this kind of issue is very low.