It seems governments around the world are continuing to use Facebook to look into the lives of its citizens. According to Facebook's annual Global Government Requests Report, which also includes information on content removal, the social media giant recorded a slight increase in government requests for account data in the second half of 2014.
Requests for account data increased to 35,051 in the second half of 2014, up from 34,946 in the first half. This figure included an increase in requests from India while requests from the United States and Germany had fallen. In the report, Facebook says that it restricted 9,707 pieces of content for violating local laws, 11 percent compared to the first half of 2014, with access restricted to 5,832 pieces in India and 3,624 in Turkey.
"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," says Monika Bickert, Facebook's head of global policy management wrote in a blog post.
According to Bickert, Facebook challenges any requests from governments that appear to be "unreasonable" or "overbroad" and if a country requests content be removed because it is illegal, it may only restrict access to the content in that country instead of simply removing it as requested.
In the wake of these government requests of companies such as Facebook many in the technology industry have become to push for greater transparency on government data requests. The hope is to shake off concerns from customers of technology companies involvement in government spying and surveillance programs such as those revealed by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Last year companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google began publishing details about the number of requests for data they receive from governments around the world.
On Sunday the social media leader Facebook updated its community standards to inform users about what types of posts are allowed on the service. The update provided users with guidance on policies related to self-injury, dangerous organizations, bullying, harrassment, criminal activity and exploitation with the hope of directing users about how they should and should not be using their services.
"We have a set of Community Standards that are designed to help people understand what is acceptable to share on Facebook. These standards are designed to create an environment where people feel motivated and empowered to treat each other with empathy and respect."
