FactHub curated dataset

Twitter/X legal demands to remove content, 2012-2024

Half-yearly counts of legal demands to remove content that Twitter and X received worldwide, and the share they acted on, from the companies' own transparency reports.

Coverage: 2012-H1 to 2026-H1 (data for 2012-H1 to 2022-H1, 2024-H1 and 2024-H2; other periods unpublished)

Node: dataset:x-content-removal-demands

What this dataset measures

Tests whether X under Elon Musk resists or complies with government censorship demands more than Twitter did. Uses only the companies' own published reports so the comparison rests on figures X itself stands behind.

Curated data tables

These related tables form this versioned dataset release. Each table has its own downloadable file and field definitions.

Twitter/X legal demands to remove content by half-year

Worldwide legal demands to remove content, the share acted on, and related figures, as published by Twitter (2012-2022) and X (2024).

Unit of observation: One half-year reporting period

View this table

x-removal-demands.csv text/csv · 19.3 KB (19,712 bytes)
29 field definitions
FieldTypeMeaningUnitsValue type
period string Half-year, e.g. 2021-H2 (July-December 2021). — observed
period_start date First day of the period. — observed
period_end date Last day of the period. — observed
company string Twitter, Twitter/X, or X, as the reporting company. — observed
report_status string published, summary only, or missing (no report published). — derived
removal_requests_total integer Legal demands to remove content received worldwide. Empty when not published. demands observed
court_orders integer Demands that were court orders (2012-2021 only). demands observed
other_legal_demands integer Other legal demands (2012-2021 only). demands observed
accounts_specified integer Accounts named in the demands, where reported. accounts observed
compliance_rate_pct number Share of demands acted on. Twitter compliance rate (2019-H2 to 2021-H2) or X action rate (2024); see compliance_metric. percent observed
compliance_metric string Definition of compliance_rate_pct for the row. — observed
us_requests integer Removal demands from the United States, where reported. demands observed
us_compliance_pct number Compliance rate for US demands, where reported. percent observed
top1_jurisdiction string Jurisdiction with the most demands. — observed
top1_requests integer Demands from top1_jurisdiction. demands observed
top1_compliance_pct number Compliance or action rate for top1_jurisdiction. percent observed
top2_jurisdiction string Second jurisdiction by demands. — observed
top2_requests integer Demands from top2_jurisdiction. demands observed
top2_compliance_pct number Compliance or action rate for top2_jurisdiction. percent observed
top3_jurisdiction string Third jurisdiction by demands. — observed
top3_requests integer Demands from top3_jurisdiction. demands observed
top3_compliance_pct number Compliance or action rate for top3_jurisdiction. percent observed
info_requests_total integer Government requests for user account information. requests observed
info_disclosure_pct number Share of information requests where some data was disclosed. For 2012-2021, a request-weighted average of published per-country rates (about +/-0.5 points). percent derived
us_info_requests integer US government information requests, where reported. requests observed
us_info_disclosure_pct number Disclosure rate for US information requests, where reported. percent observed
source_type string primary or none. — observed
source_url string Source for the row. — observed
notes string Row-level notes and definitional caveats. — observed

Supporting files

Source snapshots, manifests, quality reports, documentation, and other materials used to produce or review this release.

  • notes.md Documentation · text/markdown · 6.1 KB (6,263 bytes)

    Sources, definitions, cross-checks, gaps and discrepancies for the series.

  • build-takedown-dataset.js Transformation manifest · text/javascript · 16.2 KB (16,586 bytes)

    Script that builds this dataset's content and saved analyses from the CSV.

  • dataset-parts.json Documentation · application/json · 21.4 KB (21,894 bytes)

    Sources, table definition and saved analyses for this dataset, as JSON.

Saved analyses

Legal demands to remove content, by half-year

Question: How many legal demands to remove content did Twitter and X receive in each half-year they reported?

Result: 2012-H1: 6; 2012-H2: 42; 2013-H1: 60; 2013-H2: 377; 2014-H1: 432; 2014-H2: 796; 2015-H1: 1,003; 2015-H2: 4,617; 2016-H1: 5,195; 2016-H2: 5,925; 2017-H1: 6,086; 2017-H2: 6,651; 2018-H1: 12,244; 2018-H2: 11,220; 2019-H1: 18,753; 2019-H2: 27,538; 2020-H1: 42,220; 2020-H2: 38,524; 2021-H1: 43,387; 2021-H2: 47,572; 2022-H1: 53,000; 2024-H1: 72,703; 2024-H2: 97,006

Operation: Select periods with a published removal_requests_total.

Scope: Worldwide, 2012-H1 to 2024-H2; unpublished periods omitted.

View this analysis

  • Includes demands from private lawyers for 2012-2021.
  • Periods 2022-H2 to 2023-H2 and after 2024-H2 were not published.
  • Growth is concentrated in a few countries, especially Japan and Turkey.

Share of removal demands acted on, by half-year

Question: What share of legal demands to remove content did Twitter (2019-2021) and X (2024) act on?

Result: 2019-H2: 35% (Twitter compliance rate); 2020-H1: 31% (Twitter compliance rate); 2020-H2: 29% (Twitter compliance rate); 2021-H1: 54% (Twitter compliance rate); 2021-H2: 51% (Twitter compliance rate); 2024-H1: 70.82% (X action rate); 2024-H2: 81.89% (X action rate)

Operation: Select periods with a published global compliance or action rate.

Scope: Worldwide; 2019-H2 to 2021-H2 (Twitter compliance rate) and 2024-H1 to 2024-H2 (X action rate).

View this analysis

  • The two metrics are defined differently; the before-and-after comparison is indicative, not exact.
  • No global rate was published before 2019-H2 or for 2022-H1 to 2023-H2.
  • A descriptive comparison of periods; it does not show why rates changed.

Sources

  1. Twitter Transparency Report #20 data download (Jul-Dec 2021), removal and information request CSVs covering 2012-2021 Primary: official data file for 2012-H1 to 2021-H2

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source files not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  2. Twitter Transparency: Removal requests, July-December 2021 Primary: headline compliance rate and cross-check of totals

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source files not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  3. X blog: An update on Twitter Transparency Reporting (April 25, 2023) Primary: summary figures for 2022-H1

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source files not redistributed

  4. X Global Transparency Report, H1 2024 (PDF) Primary: 2024-H1 figures (p. 13)

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source files not redistributed

    Archived copy captured September 29, 2026

  5. X Global Transparency Report, H2 2024 (PDF) Primary: 2024-H2 figures (p. 13)

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source files not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

  6. X 2025 Transparency Report (HTML version of the H2 2024 report) Primary: cross-check of 2024-H2 figures; also the latest report linked as of 2026-10-10

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source files not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 9, 2026

  7. Rest of World: Twitter is complying with more government demands under Elon Musk (2023) Secondary context only: analysis of Lumen database submissions; not part of the series

    Retrieved October 10, 2026. Publisher copyright; figures reproduced as facts. Figures extracted; source files not redistributed

    Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

Limitations and reproducibility

Reproducible: 2012-2021 values are read directly from Twitter's official removal-requests CSV in the report #20 download and match the totals and headline rates printed on each report page for 2019-H2 to 2021-H2. 2022-H1 comes from an X blog post. 2024 values are copied from page 13 of each X Global Transparency Report and match the HTML version. notes.md documents every check and discrepancy.

  • Twitter's "legal demands" (2012-2021) include demands from lawyers representing private individuals, not only governments; no government-only total was published. X's 2024 reports call the data government requests but do not define it.
  • The rates are not like-for-like. Twitter's compliance rate counts demands where it withheld or removed any reported content, including removals for breaking its own rules; X's 2024 action rate is cases actioned divided by total requests, with "actioned" undefined. Treat the change from about 51% (2021-H2) to 71-82% (2024) as indicative.
  • No global compliance rate exists before 2019-H2; those cells are blank, not zero.
  • X published no report for 2022-H2, 2023-H1 or 2023-H2, only a summary for 2022-H1, and none after 2024-H2 as of 2026-10-10. Missing periods are left empty, not interpolated.
  • 2024 breakdowns group countries into jurisdictions (the EU as one bloc, "All Others"), so the top-jurisdiction columns are not comparable with earlier country rankings. X did not report US removal demands for 2024.
  • Totals are driven by a few countries: Japan alone accounted for 46,648 of 72,703 demands in 2024-H1 and 69,186 of 97,006 in 2024-H2. A rising worldwide total mostly reflects demands from Japan and Turkey.
  • Batch demands can inflate accounts specified (for example, Indonesia named 102,363 accounts in two demands in 2021-H1).
  • Rest of World's 2023 finding of 83% full compliance comes from Twitter's submissions to the Lumen database, a different and partial source, and is not part of this series.

Publications using this dataset

Version details

The exact citing versions, and the version of this dataset each cites.

  • Article x-most-permissive-social-network — version 5 (published) cites version 1
  • Chart x-removal-demand-action-rate — version 1 (published) cites version 1