Revealed: Google facilitated Russia and China’s censorship requests

News Snapshot:

Google has cooperated with autocratic regimes around the world, including the Kremlin in Russia and the Chinese Communist party, to facilitate censorship requests, an Observer investigation can reveal. The technology company has engaged with the administrations of about 150 countries since 2011 that want information scrubbed from their public domains. As well as democratic governments, it has interacted with dictatorships, sanctioned regimes and governments accused of human rights abuses, including the police in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. After requests from the governments of Russia and China, Google has removed content such as YouTube videos of anti-state protesters or content that criticises and...