2017: Jul 1 – Dec 31

CountryCourt OrdersRequests from government agencies or law enforcementNumber of sites specifiedPercentage of requests where content was removed due to a violation of our policiesPercentage of requests where content was removed solely in response to the demand
Australia11250%0%
Austria0110%0%
Brazil23520%0%
Bulgaria011100%0%
Canada20850%0%
Colombia0330%0%
France11415*40%33%
Germany4150%0%
India2141713%0%
Italy1010%0%
Kazakhstan0340%100%
Luxembourg0110%0%
Malaysia0330%0%
Malta1120%0%
Mexico0110%0%
Northern Ireland0110%0%
Pakistan02310%100%
Singapore0110%0%
South Korea012100%0%
Spain1120%0%
Russia052252216%80%
Turkey3104932%61%
United Kingdom1480%0%
United States0220%0%
Total4758168717%71%
*While only 15 sites were affected, there were more than 1,000 total URLs included in their requests.

For demands that come from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey, we geoblock the specific content or site(s) at issue, so that WordPress.com remains otherwise accessible in the country. You can read a bit more about our approach to Russian takedown demands here.

Recent Examples

Here are a few recent examples of takedown demands that we received:

France

  • The National Gendarmerie requested deletion of a site that that allegedly defamed a person and their business practices.

Pakistan

  • The Web Analysis Team of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) requested the removal of sites that were “blasphemous.”

Russia

  • Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (ROSKOMNADZOR) requested removal of a post that appeared to be a short poem that allegedly included “information prohibited for public distribution in the Russian Federation.”