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The Twitter logo is displayed on a banner outside the New York Stock Exchange on November 7, 2013 in New York City. (Photo: Andrew Burton via Getty Images)

The Twitter logo is displayed on a banner outside the New York Stock Exchange on November 7, 2013 in New York City. (Photo: Andrew Burton via Getty Images)

Twitter Reports Rise in Governments Demanding Removal of Journalists' Content

The social media giant said that in the second half of 2020, the accounts of nearly 200 verified reporters and news outlets worldwide faced 361 legal demands to remove content—a 26% increase from the first half of the year.

Kenny Stancil

In a biannual transparency report published on Wednesday, Twitter revealed that the second half of 2020 was marked by a surge in government demands to delete information shared by reporters and news publishers, an alarming trend for advocates of press freedom.

The social media giant said that in the second half of 2020, "199 accounts of verified journalists and news outlets from around the world were subject to 361 legal demands" to remove content—a 26% increase from the first half of the year.

According to Twitter's report, the platform took down five tweets from verified journalists and news outlets. Of those, four tweets were "withheld" in Brazil and one in France.

India issued 128 removal requests during the second half of last year, the most among countries. India was followed by Turkey (108), Pakistan (52), and Russia (28).

The report noted that "Twitter also received an increase of legal demands including accounts from verified journalists and news outlets from a wider range of jurisdictions, such as Brazil (16), Mexico (9), Thailand (9), Ireland (3), France, (2), Colombia (2), and Venezuela (2)."

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