Google has refused to censor internet search results that accused British police of covering up crime and of racism, following complaints from authorities.
In a separate incident, Google said it also refused to take down a YouTube video that alleged racism by another force.
Google has declined a request by the Daily Telegraph for further details about the police authorities involved.
“We received a request from a local law enforcement agency to remove 14 search results for linking to sites that criticise the police and claim individuals were involved in obscuring crimes," Google said in its Transparency Report, which is published every six months.
"In addition, we received a request from another local law enforcement agency to remove a YouTube video for criticising the agency for racism. We did not remove content in response to this request.”
Google publishes the report to provide information on government attempts to obtain private information from the search giant, as well as censor material from the dominant search engine.
Requests for information range from asking Google to reveal the identity of an individual user to allowing authorities to read full emails.
Google makes no secret of the fact that it is unhappy about the increasing quantity of data requests, and the report is seen as a way of highlighting to a privacy-conscious public the pressure it is under.
From July to December 2012, Google received a total of 21,389 requests for data, an increase of about 2.2 per cent from the first half of 2012.
Overall, 2012 saw an increase of over 8,000 requests – a jump of more than 25 per cent jump – compared to 2011.
In the second half of 2012, The US made 8,438 requests, more than any other country and an increase of almost 500 over the previous six months. That figure has more than doubled since 2009, the first year for which figures were released.
For the United Kingdom in the months January to June 2012 (the latest period for which these figures are released, Google says:
In the same period, Google received a request from China to remove a link to a site allegedly defaming a government official. The request was denied.
Representatives of a former French politician asked Google to remove a blog post that allegedly defamed him by “explaining his connections with the pharmaceutical lobby”. This request was also denied.
Legal representatives for a member of Monaco’s royal family asked for the removal of five blog posts containing images that allegedly violated her privacy. Google agreed to remove four of the five posts.
In the Philippines a request was denied to remove a number of blogs criticising a local mayor.
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