Facebook pledges to push for surveillance reform in latest global government requests report
Facebook has charted a 9% increase in global government data requests over the second half of 2016 in its latest transparency report, a period which saw the total number of requests rise from 59,229 to 64,279.
Expanding on these requests the social network further revealed that around half of all requests from US law enforcement carried a non-disclosure clause which blocked Facebook from notifying the individual concerned.
Delving further into the detail Facebook showed that the number of content restrictions for violating local laws are actually on a downward trajectory, declining by 28% globally compared to the first half of 2016, from 9,663 to 6,944.
Past reports had been skewed by a large volume of restrictions relating to a single image of the Bataclan terror attack in Paris last November.
Reiterating its approach to such requests Facebook said in a statement: “We will continue to work with partners in industry and civil society to push governments around the world to reform surveillance in a way that protects their citizens’ safety and security while respecting their rights and freedoms, while recognizing the obligation of governments to uphold the law and protect their residents.”
Facebook recognizes that the current process of cross border data requests is ‘slow and cumbersome’ however and is actively pushing to have the system reformed.
In a flurry of announcements Facebook also confirmed that it was offering a new tool for video creators to claw back lost advertising from pirated content.