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Government Requests for Content Removal Report

Microsoft receives requests from governments around the world to remove access to content that is available online through one of our consumer products or services. Details related to these requests are reported twice per year.
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When Microsoft receives a government request to remove content, we carefully review and assess the demand to understand the reason for the request, the authority of the requesting party, the applicable policies or terms of use for the affected product or service, and our commitments to our customers and users with regard to freedom of expression. Based on these reviews, we determine whether and to what extent we should remove the content in question. The report includes government requests for the removal of content for Microsoft consumer online services, such as Bing, OneDrive, Bing Ads, and MSN.

Government requests for content removal, January-June 2023

Country / Region
Requests
Action taken
Percentage – action taken
Australia
13
13
100%
China
1,105
1,032
93%
France
54
53
98%
Germany
6
6
100%
India
2
1
50%
Korea
42
40
95%
Russia
477
319
67%
UK
2
1
50%
Total
1,701
1,465
86%
Requests that may result in account closure
4
0
0%

Note: Numbers are aggregated across all Microsoft consumer online services (e.g., Bing, Bing Ads, OneDrive, MSN) for which government content removal requests were received during this reporting period. Government content removals are directed by governmental entities and may be received pursuant to a court order or other demand to Microsoft. Our numbers do not include content removed as the result of a court order against Microsoft unless a government entity was the party pursuing the content removal. Requests may include a wide array of subject matters, and often contend that the content violates local law, such as prohibiting hate speech, defamation, political rumors or adult content. The laws surrounding these issues vary by country. Requests may report alleged violations of our terms of use. The numbers for “Requests that May Result in Account Closure” include those government requests for content removal that could lead to account closure (e.g., if a government reports to Microsoft an alleged violation of the terms of use for our services, and the alleged violation may lead to account closure under our terms of use), or if the government requests included an explicit request for account closure.

 

Note: Reports before H2 2021 are Content Removal Requests Reports, which included Government Requests for Content Removal, Copyright Removal Requests, and “Right to be Forgotten” Requests.  Reports available for H2 2021 and later are the Government Requests for Content Removal Reports.  If you wish to download Copyright Removal Requests Reports or “Right to be Forgotten” Requests Reports for H2 2021 or later, please visit the corresponding web pages for those reports.

FAQs for Government Requests for Content Removal Report

  • A government removal request is when a government issues a demand to Microsoft to remove access to content that is available online from one of our consumer products or services. We have attempted to include in our numbers all court orders if the demand was brought by a government entity; we did not include court orders that were brought by a private party. When Microsoft receives a government request to remove content, we carefully review and assess the demand to understand the reason for the request, the authority of the requesting party, the applicable internal policies or terms of use for the affected product or service, and our commitments to our customers and users including with regard to freedom of expression. Based on these reviews, we determine whether and to what extent we should remove the content in question.

  • Microsoft might reject a government request for various reasons including lack of proof of applicable law or governmental authority; an inadequate or insufficient request or formal order; or inconsistency of the law with international standards and norms or our policies.

  • The report includes government requests for the removal of content for Microsoft consumer online services, such as Bing, OneDrive, Bing Ads, and MSN.

  • The numbers for “requests that may result in account closure” include those government requests for content removal that could lead to account closure (e.g., if a government reports to Microsoft an alleged violation of the terms of use for our services, and the alleged violation may lead to account closure under our terms of use), or if the government requests included an explicit request for account closure.

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