Country | Court Orders | Requests from government agencies or law enforcement | Number of sites specified | Percentage of requests where content was removed due to a violation of our policies | Percentage of requests where content was removed solely in response to the demand |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brazil | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Canada | 0 | 4 | 3 | 50% | 0% |
Denmark | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
France | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Germany | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0% | 0% |
Hong Kong | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Iceland | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
India | 0 | 4 | 5 | 25% | 0% |
Indonesia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Kenya | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Malaysia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Mexico | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Pakistan | 0 | 4 | 7 | 50% | 0% |
Russia | 0 | 119 | 75 | 19% | 30% |
Spain | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
Taiwan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
Thailand | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0% |
Turkey | 24 | 24 | 24 | 0% | 88% |
United Kingdom | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
United States | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0% |
TOTAL | 24 | 174 | 133 | 19% | 33% |
For demands that come from Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey, we will generally geoblock the specific content or site(s) at issue, so that WordPress.com remains otherwise accessible in the country. However, in cases of particularly egregious censorship, we have pushed back and do push back where possible. You can read a bit more about our approach to those kinds of takedown demands here.
Recent Examples
Here are a few recent examples of takedown demands that we received:
- Hong Kong – A representative of the Hong Kong Police requested we takedown a site is set up to commemorate and remember the protests and massacre at Tiananmen Square. The reason cited for the takedown demand is “sedition”.
- Malaysia – The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission demanded the removal of a site for misusing information and posting fictitious articles.
- Pakistan – The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority demanded the removal of a post from a site that contains content critical of the Pakistani government.
- Russia – We received multiple takedown demands from the Russian Government relating to the war in Ukraine, including fundraising sites, and an interview with a former Russian soldier who was critical of the military action.