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Censorship by Google
Google and its subsidiary companies, such as YouTube, have removed or omitted information from its services in order to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws.
Numerous governments have asked Google to censor content. In 2012, Google ruled in favor of more than half the requests they received via court orders and phone calls. This did not include China or Iran, who completely blocked the site or one of its subsidiary companies.
As of 2025, Google continues to receive hundreds of thousands of removal requests annually from governments worldwide, most commonly related to national security, copyright, or defamation, and regularly reviews each request for compliance with its policies.[5]
In February 2003, Google stopped showing advertisements from Oceana, a non-profit organization protesting against a major cruise ship operation's sewage treatment practices. Google, citing its editorial policy, stated that "Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations."
In April 2008, Google refused to run ads for a UK Christian group opposed to abortion, explaining that "At this time, Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain 'abortion and religion'".
In April 2014, Google removed ads for certain crisis pregnancy centers following an investigation by NARAL. Research across 70 U.S. cities found that, among "abortion clinic" search results, 79% of the Google ads reviewed violated its policy against deceptive advertising. According to NARAL, people using Google to search for abortion clinics were shown advertisements for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. Google stated that it constantly reviews ads for policy violations and, if found, takes appropriate actions, including disabling or blacklisting accounts, as quickly as possible.
In September 2018, Google removed a paid advertisement from YouTube made by supporters of Russian opposition who urged Russians to participate in a protest set on September 9. Russia's Central Election Commission earlier sent a request to Google to remove the advertisement, saying it violated election laws that call for a "day of silence" on election matters ahead of voting, but the advertisement was blocked even in regions with no voting set on September 9 and in regions where authorities had authorized the pension-reform protests.
In March 2007, the lower-resolution satellite imagery on Google Maps showing post-Hurricane Katrina damage in Louisiana, US, was allegedly replaced with higher resolution images from before the storm. Google's official blog post in April revealed that the imagery was still available in KML format on Google Earth or Google Maps.
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Censorship by Google
Google and its subsidiary companies, such as YouTube, have removed or omitted information from its services in order to comply with company policies, legal demands, and government censorship laws.
Numerous governments have asked Google to censor content. In 2012, Google ruled in favor of more than half the requests they received via court orders and phone calls. This did not include China or Iran, who completely blocked the site or one of its subsidiary companies.
As of 2025, Google continues to receive hundreds of thousands of removal requests annually from governments worldwide, most commonly related to national security, copyright, or defamation, and regularly reviews each request for compliance with its policies.[5]
In February 2003, Google stopped showing advertisements from Oceana, a non-profit organization protesting against a major cruise ship operation's sewage treatment practices. Google, citing its editorial policy, stated that "Google does not accept advertising if the ad or site advocates against other individuals, groups, or organizations."
In April 2008, Google refused to run ads for a UK Christian group opposed to abortion, explaining that "At this time, Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain 'abortion and religion'".
In April 2014, Google removed ads for certain crisis pregnancy centers following an investigation by NARAL. Research across 70 U.S. cities found that, among "abortion clinic" search results, 79% of the Google ads reviewed violated its policy against deceptive advertising. According to NARAL, people using Google to search for abortion clinics were shown advertisements for anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. Google stated that it constantly reviews ads for policy violations and, if found, takes appropriate actions, including disabling or blacklisting accounts, as quickly as possible.
In September 2018, Google removed a paid advertisement from YouTube made by supporters of Russian opposition who urged Russians to participate in a protest set on September 9. Russia's Central Election Commission earlier sent a request to Google to remove the advertisement, saying it violated election laws that call for a "day of silence" on election matters ahead of voting, but the advertisement was blocked even in regions with no voting set on September 9 and in regions where authorities had authorized the pension-reform protests.
In March 2007, the lower-resolution satellite imagery on Google Maps showing post-Hurricane Katrina damage in Louisiana, US, was allegedly replaced with higher resolution images from before the storm. Google's official blog post in April revealed that the imagery was still available in KML format on Google Earth or Google Maps.