By Aldo Panessidi 

Google regularly updates its transparency report that details thousands of requests from governments around the world to censor search results, drop YouTube videos or review user data.   A sample snapshot of this report is shown below.

Google doesn’t just bend to government’s will either. While Google did agree to cooperate on blogs promoting hate speech and violence, it refused to censor a video where a Canadian citizen creatively destroyed his passport.

Google did however, comply and remove a tweaked iPhone 4S parts video after Apple threatened legal action.

Google logs and details every request. Their numbers indicate that the only comply with about half of the requests, indicating Google’s fundamental respect for the right to free speech in a great majority of cases.

Most filings come from the US, UK and India. The list makes for interesting reading.