Google reports significant increase in requests for content takedown

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Internet search giant Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., says government requests for takedown of content grew 68 percent since the second half of 2012.

In its eighth transparency report since 2010, Google said the requests came through law enforcement, individual politicians, court orders and more, VentureBeat reported Thursday.

In total, Google said, 3,846 takedown requests were received that affected 24,737 piece of content.

The company said it complied with fewer than half of these requests.

The United States accounted for 545 requests in that total, a 70 percent increase over its total in the last reporting period, Google said.

Defamation remains the biggest reason for takedown requests coming out of the United States, it said.

Google has been joined in releasing transparency reports by other Web titans like Apple, Twitter, Yahoo, Facebook and Microsoft.