Although the Internet offers a unique freedom, this freedom is not always unlimited, and governments, courts and government agencies may request the removal of content on Google and YouTube platforms for various reasons: So what is the world’s most censored website? A new study reveals interesting results.
YouTube is by far the leader in censorship!
VPN provider Surfshark analysed more than 300,000 content removal requests received by Google since 2020. According to the report, 54 per cent of these requests were for YouTube, while 31 per cent were for Google Search. The remaining 15 per cent is distributed to Google’s other services.
The fact that YouTube is subject to more censorship can be explained by the platform’s wide reach and the fact that its video content is much more attractive. On the other hand, even if search engines block access to certain content, the removed data can be made available again from different sources.
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Leading countries in censorship requests
According to the research, Russia is by far ahead in content removal requests on YouTube and Google Search. It is followed by India with 8,000 requests and Turkey with 6,000 requests. South Korea, on the other hand, is one of the countries that apply intense censorship, especially on Google Search. Even when Russia’s data is excluded, 70 per cent of the removal requests received by Google are for YouTube and Google Search.
The research shows that the US is at the bottom of the list in terms of content removal requests. While countries that are generally stricter in terms of content removal usually make the list, the US seems to follow a relatively flexible policy on digital freedom of expression.
However, it should be added that the report covers only 150 countries and 2024 data was collected until June. It is also emphasised that it focuses on the number of requests, but does not analyse how much content was removed in each request.
So which platform do you think is censored the most? How do you view the governments’ content removal requests? We are waiting for your comments!
