FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Twitter has received more government requests for user information in the first six months of this year than it did in all of 2011, the company reported this week.
Taking a page from Google, the micro-blogging site released on Monday its first Twitter Transparency Report listing government requests for user information and to withhold content, and copyright holders DMCA takedown notices.
Google has had its own Transparency Report for the past several years and yesterday tweeted “props” to Twitter for releasing a similar report.
“Wednesday marks Independence Day here in the United States,” wrote Jeremy Kessel, Twitter’s manager of legal policy. “Beyond the fireworks and barbecue, July 4th serves as an important reminder of the need to hold governments accountable, especially on behalf of those who may not have a chance to do so themselves.”
So here’s a look at some of the numbers for the more than 20 countries that Twitter is listing:
Kessel noted that Twitter plans to release a Transparency Report twice a year.
Twitter’s Transparency Report comes on the heels of the company losing a court battle in New York in which it tried to challenge a subpoena ordering it to provide prosecutors with Twitter messages written by an Occupy Wall Street protestor.
