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

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.

Geography

Worldwide

Unit of observation

One half-year reporting period

Update cadence

Half-yearly when X publishes a report

Curator

FactHub

Curated data tables

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

x-removal-demands.csv text/csv · 19.3 KB (19,712 bytes)

All 29 rows 29 columns Download the file

All 29 rows

period	period_start	period_end	company	report_status	removal_requests_total demands	court_orders demands	other_legal_demands demands	accounts_specified accounts	compliance_rate_pct percent	compliance_metric	us_requests demands	us_compliance_pct percent	top1_jurisdiction	top1_requests demands	top1_compliance_pct percent	top2_jurisdiction	top2_requests demands	top2_compliance_pct percent	top3_jurisdiction	top3_requests demands	top3_compliance_pct percent	info_requests_total requests	info_disclosure_pct percent	us_info_requests requests	us_info_disclosure_pct percent	source_type	source_url	notes
2012-H1	2012-01-01	2012-06-30	Twitter	published	6	3	3	18	—	—	—	—	Greece	2	—	France	1	—	Pakistan	1	—	849	63.2	679	75	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). United States not listed among requesting countries for this period. First Twitter transparency report (published 2 Jul 2012).
2012-H2	2012-07-01	2012-12-31	Twitter	published	42	26	16	140	—	—	4	—	Brazil	16	—	Turkey	6	—	United Kingdom	6	—	1009	56.8	815	69	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2013-H1	2013-01-01	2013-06-30	Twitter	published	60	21	39	106	—	—	2	—	Russia	17	—	Brazil	10	—	Turkey	7	—	1157	55.4	902	67	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2013-H2	2013-07-01	2013-12-31	Twitter	published	377	24	353	317	—	—	8	—	France	309	—	Russia	14	—	Brazil	12	—	1410	49.7	833	69	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). France accounted for 309 of 377 requests.
2014-H1	2014-01-01	2014-06-30	Twitter	published	432	88	344	723	—	—	31	—	Turkey	186	—	France	108	—	Russia	32	—	2058	52.1	1257	72	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2014-H2	2014-07-01	2014-12-31	Twitter	published	796	376	420	3236	—	—	32	—	Turkey	477	—	Russia	91	—	Germany	43	—	2871	52.3	1622	80	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2015-H1	2015-01-01	2015-06-30	Twitter	published	1003	442	561	3594	—	—	25	—	Turkey	718	—	Russia	68	—	South Korea	40	—	4363	58.5	2436	80	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2015-H2	2015-07-01	2015-12-31	Twitter	published	4617	486	4131	11092	—	—	101	—	Turkey	2211	—	Russia	1735	—	France	154	—	5560	63.7	2673	79	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). Archived page narrative says 11,090 accounts; CSV says 11,092.
2016-H1	2016-01-01	2016-06-30	Twitter	published	5195	761	4434	20571	—	—	100	—	Turkey	2493	—	Russia	1601	—	France	466	—	5676	69.3	2520	82	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2016-H2	2016-07-01	2016-12-31	Twitter	published	5925	894	5031	13022	—	—	102	—	Turkey	3076	—	France	1334	—	Russia	522	—	6062	64.4	2304	82	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2017-H1	2017-01-01	2017-06-30	Twitter	published	6086	752	5334	14120	—	—	122	—	Turkey	2710	—	Russia	1213	—	France	1039	—	6447	59.7	2111	77	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2017-H2	2017-07-01	2017-12-31	Twitter	published	6651	513	6138	11650	—	—	89	—	Turkey	4294	—	Russia	1292	—	Japan	164	—	6268	55.3	1761	77	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2018-H1	2018-01-01	2018-06-30	Twitter	published	12244	628	11616	27811	—	—	99	—	Turkey	8988	—	Russia	1641	—	India	246	—	6905	56.2	2231	76	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). Contemporaneous coverage (nextgov.com, Dec 2018) reported Twitter withheld nothing in response to the 99 US demands; not in the official CSV.
2018-H2	2018-07-01	2018-12-31	Twitter	published	11220	1139	10081	27283	—	—	83	—	Turkey	5014	—	Russia	3344	—	Japan	679	—	6904	55.4	2092	73	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2019-H1	2019-01-01	2019-06-30	Twitter	published	18753	1243	17510	50757	—	—	170	—	Turkey	6073	—	Japan	5144	—	Russia	3810	—	7299	47.3	2120	70	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). No global compliance rate in the official dataset for this period (field null); left blank. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). Archived page narrative gives Japan 5,127 requests; CSV gives 5,144 (later restatement).
2019-H2	2019-07-01	2019-12-31	Twitter	published	27538	1669	25869	98595	35	compliance rate: % of legal demands where some or all content withheld or removed (incl. TOS removals)	88	31	Japan	12496	34	Russia	6107	35	Turkey	5195	31	8819	40.5	2271	62	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). compliance_rate_pct is the headline figure on the period page; CSV request-weighted value 34.6%. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2020-H1	2020-01-01	2020-06-30	Twitter	published	42220	1894	40326	85357	31	compliance rate: % of legal demands where some or all content withheld or removed (incl. TOS removals)	298	40	Japan	19924	32	Russia	8949	23	South Korea	4440	47	12657	36.6	3429	59	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). compliance_rate_pct is the headline figure on the period page; CSV request-weighted value 31.0%. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). Archived page narrative says 85,375 accounts specified; CSV sums to 85,357.
2020-H2	2020-07-01	2020-12-31	Twitter	published	38524	1540	36984	131933	29	compliance rate: % of legal demands where some or all content withheld or removed (incl. TOS removals)	62	44	Japan	16649	29	India	6971	9	Russia	6351	25	14561	30.3	3243	60	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). compliance_rate_pct is the headline figure on the period page; CSV request-weighted value 28.6%. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp).
2021-H1	2021-01-01	2021-06-30	Twitter	published	43387	1364	42023	196878	54	compliance rate: % of legal demands where some or all content withheld or removed (incl. TOS removals)	45	53	Japan	18518	67	Russia	10448	47	Turkey	5454	61	12369	36.2	3026	68	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). compliance_rate_pct is the headline figure on the period page; CSV request-weighted value 54.0%. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). Two Indonesian demands named 102,363 accounts, inflating accounts_specified.
2021-H2	2021-07-01	2021-12-31	Twitter	published	47572	941	46631	198931	51	compliance rate: % of legal demands where some or all content withheld or removed (incl. TOS removals)	32	41	Japan	23555	44	Russia	8370	80	South Korea	5724	59	11460	40.3	2333	69	primary	transparency.x.com	Twitter "legal demands" = court orders + other formal demands from government entities AND lawyers representing individuals (not government-only). compliance_rate_pct is the headline figure on the period page; CSV request-weighted value 51.5%. info_disclosure_pct derived as request-weighted mean of per-country rates (2 dp) in the official CSV (+/-0.5 pp). Last full Twitter report (published 28 Jul 2022). Batch reports from South Korea (94,156 accounts) and UAE.
2022-H1	2022-01-01	2022-06-30	Twitter	summary only	53000	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Japan	—	—	South Korea	—	—	Turkey	—	—	16000	—	—	—	primary	blog.x.com	Blog post (25 Apr 2023) says "approximately 53,000" legal requests to remove content from governments; no formal report. Compliance "varied by requester country" (no global rate). Top requesting countries named as Japan, South Korea, Turkey and India, without counts (rank order assumed from listing order). Information requests: "over 16,000" from 85+ countries (top five India, US, France, Japan, Germany); no disclosure rate. Rounded value; wording "from governments" may not match the earlier legal-demands definition.
2022-H2	2022-07-01	2022-12-31	Twitter/X	missing	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	none	—	No transparency report or summary published (Musk acquisition closed 27 Oct 2022). Not interpolated. See notes file for the Rest of World/Lumen analysis (separate, non-comparable source).
2023-H1	2023-01-01	2023-06-30	X	missing	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	none	—	No transparency report published. Not interpolated.
2023-H2	2023-07-01	2023-12-31	X	missing	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	none	—	No transparency report published. Not interpolated.
2024-H1	2024-01-01	2024-06-30	X	published	72703	—	—	—	70.82	action rate: % of requests where X took action	—	—	Japan	46648	79	Turkey	9364	68	South Korea	5889	73	18737	52.82	3329	76	primary	transparency.x.com	X Global Transparency Report H1 2024, p.13. Action rate = cases actioned / total requests (51,487 / 72,703 = 70.82%); different definition from Twitter compliance rate, and the report does not say whether demands from lawyers for individuals are included. Breakdown rows (Turkey, Japan, South Korea, EU, All Others) sum to 72,704, one more than the stated total. Top 3 ranked among separately listed jurisdictions only: EU (2,458; 80%) is a bloc and All Others (8,345; 26%) is aggregated, so an unlisted country could exceed South Korea. US removal requests and accounts specified not reported.
2024-H2	2024-07-01	2024-12-31	X	published	97006	—	—	—	81.89	action rate: % of requests where X took action	—	—	Japan	69186	83.64	Turkey	11107	85.66	South Korea	1835	89.86	20925	50.57	3788	78.54	primary	transparency.x.com	X Global Transparency Report H2 2024 (published Mar 2025), p.13. Action rate = 79,438 / 97,006 = 81.89%. Breakdown rows sum exactly to total. Top 3 ranked among separately listed jurisdictions; EU bloc (3,831; 90.42%) ranks above South Korea; All Others 11,047 (62.86%) aggregated, so an unlisted country could exceed South Korea. US removal requests and accounts specified not reported. Some press (Social Media Today, Digital Information World) mislabelled these figures as first-half 2024.
2025-H1	2025-01-01	2025-06-30	X	missing	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	none	transparency.x.com	No global transparency report for this period found on transparency.x.com as of 2026-10-10 (home page "View Report" still points to July-December 2024). Not interpolated.
2025-H2	2025-07-01	2025-12-31	X	missing	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	none	transparency.x.com	No global transparency report for this period found on transparency.x.com as of 2026-10-10 (home page "View Report" still points to July-December 2024). Not interpolated.
2026-H1	2026-01-01	2026-06-30	X	missing	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	none	transparency.x.com	No global transparency report for this period found on transparency.x.com as of 2026-10-10 (home page "View Report" still points to July-December 2024). Not interpolated.

29 field definitions

Field	Type	Meaning	Units	Value 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.

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.