Facebook Still Being Squeezed By Government Data Requests

Facebook has said that government requests for user data is on the increase, according to its Global Government Requests Report.

In the second half of 2014, requests for user data hit 35,051, up from 34,946 in the first half of the year. Requests for data from users in India rose, with requests in Germany and the US fell.

UK requests rise

In the UK, requests rose 2,366 from 2,110 in the first half of the year. Just over 75 percent of the requests resulted in Facebook handing over user data.

In the US, the second half of the year saw 14,274 government requests, down from 15,433 in the first half of 2014. Just over 79 percent of requests resulted in Facebook handing over data from July to December last year.

In a blog post detailing the new request statistics, Facebook’s head of global policy management Monika Bickert said: “Moving forward, we will continue to scrutinize each government request and push back when we find deficiencies. We will also continue to push governments around the world to reform their surveillance practices in a way that maintains the safety and security of their people while ensuring their rights and freedoms are protected.

“Overall, we continue to see an increase in government requests for data and content restrictions. The amount of content restricted for violating local law increased by 11% over the previous half, to 9,707 pieces of content restricted, up from 8,774. We saw a rise in content restriction requests from countries like Turkey and Russia, and declines in places like Pakistan.”

Community standards

Over the weekend, Facebook Inc also revamped its community standards, which dictate what kind of content is allowed on the social media site. Facebook clarified that photos of “fully exposed buttocks” are banned, along with “images of female breasts if they include the nipple”.

However, Facebook said that it will “always allow photos of women actively engaged in breastfeeding or showing breasts with post-mastectomy scarring”.

Facebook also said: “We also allow photographs of paintings, sculptures and other art that depicts nude figures. Restrictions on the display of both nudity and sexual activity also apply to digitally created content unless the content is posted for educational, humorous or satirical purposes.”

Updated and clarified guidelines on direct threats, self-harm, terrorist organisations, and bullying and harassment, along with threats on public figures and sexual violence and exploitation.

Facebook said: “We don’t allow any organisations that are engaged in the following to have a presence on Facebook: terrorist activity, organised criminal activity, or promoting hate against a people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition.”

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