Russian authorities in 2024 demanded that Google remove a record 784 thousand pieces of content

The company removed just over 30 thousand units

In 2024, the amount of content on Google platforms that Russian authorities demanded to remove increased by 20%, to 784 thousand units, according to a Google transparency report analyzed by Vorstka. This figure was a record since 2009, from which statistics are available.

Overall, the amount of content required to be removed by Russian authorities has increased annually for fourteen years in a row. In just three years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the volume of such content almost doubled - in 2021, Google received requests to remove only 393.7 thousand pieces of content.

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Almost all requirements related to links in Google search results

Almost 95% of the content (741.7 thousand units) that the authorities wanted to delete in 2024 are links in Google search results. And exactly 5% (39.2 thousand units) come from videos on YouTube .

The Russian authorities demanded that 24.6 thousand units of content be removed because, in their opinion, it affects national security, 1.4 thousand units because it contains suicide propaganda, 17.5 thousand units because of copyright infringement, and another 2.5 thousand because of “drug use.”

Over the course of a year, Google reviewed requests for almost 56 thousand pieces of content, of which a little more than 30 thousand were ultimately removed. Thus, 29.4 thousand were removed “as required by law”, another 620 – “for violating the rules”. The request was rejected for 17.2 thousand pieces of content.

The Russian authorities demanded that the video about the “Noon against Putin” rally and about the quadruple fighters be removed

To demonstrate the "diversity of requirements," Google revealed several requests it received in 2024. In particular, the company received 71 requests from RKN to remove videos from YouTube about the “Noon Against Putin” protest and another request to remove videos with quadruple fighters. In both cases, Google refused to remove the video: in the first, because “the material is of public interest,” in the second, because the video “does not violate community guidelines.”

As Vorstka previously wrote, since the beginning of April, Google has received at least five requests from Roskomnadzor demanding that they remove queer dating apps from the company’s store. Most of them are still available in Russia, only one is marked “not available in your country.”

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