Facebook has released a report about the government data requests it received in the second half of 2015. The social media company saw an overall increase globally in requests for user data and content restrictions "pursuant to local law".
“We recognise there are serious threats to public safety and that law enforcement has an important responsibility to keep people safe,” reads Facebook"s statement. “Our legal and safety teams work hard to respond to legitimate law enforcement requests while fulfilling our responsibility to protect people’s privacy and security.”
Overall, the increase in requests was by 13%, up from 41,214 to 46,763. The vast majority of the requests come from "Western" countries including Australia, rather than those with a questionable rights record, for example. The only Gulf state to get any of its requests answered was the United Arab Emirates, which made five requests, of which Facebook responded to four.
With the addition of several case studies, Facebook tries to give the public an idea of what government requests look like. For example, on the German case study list, it reads:
“We restricted access to content alleged to constitute “incitement of hatred” (volksverhetzung) or a violation of the Youth Protection Law, as well as content related to Holocaust denial.”
Facebook has also included information regarding the non-disclosure orders it receives. This information is only applicable to data concerning the United States. You can find more information on a country-by-country basis in the full report.
Source: Facebook