Google rejected nearly 62 per cent of content removal requests submitted by the Kenyan government in the six months to June 2025.
According to Google’s latest Global Transparency Report, the rejection rate has risen steadily over the past year even as Kenya sharply increased the volume of its takedown demands.
Globally, overall government requests declined during the same period.
In the half year to December 2024, Google declined 46 per cent of Kenya’s requests, while the rejection rate stood at 25 per cent in the six months to June 2024.
Most of the requests targeted YouTube videos and Google Search results, with authorities citing reasons ranging from national security and defamation to hate speech, privacy violations and impersonation.
The demands were largely channelled through the Communications Authority, which acts as the government’s primary interface with digital platforms on content regulation.
While Google complied with a small number of requests involving clear violations of its platform policies, the company said many of the demands were declined because they lacked sufficient detail or failed to meet its content removal standards.
“Often times, governments’ requests target political content and government criticism,” Google noted in the report.
The company said it evaluates each request individually, reviewing the content to determine whether removal is warranted under its policies and legal obligations.
The latest figures come against the backdrop of increased scrutiny of social media platforms by the Kenyan government.
Last year, authorities directed global platforms to establish physical offices in the country, arguing that a local presence would improve accountability and enable faster moderation of harmful or unlawful content.
Governments around the world routinely submit content takedown requests to Google and other major platforms, including Meta and X, seeking the removal of material they consider unlawful, harmful or in violation of local regulations.
Such requests commonly target hate speech, misinformation, copyright infringement, defamation and extremist content, as well as posts deemed to threaten national security or public order.
Major technology companies publish regular transparency reports detailing the volume and nature of these requests, revealing wide variations between countries based on legal frameworks, political systems and approaches to online speech.
In some cases, governments ask for the removal of specific URLs or user accounts, while in others they push for broader measures such as blocking entire websites or restricting access within a particular jurisdiction.
The rising number of takedown demands has intensified concerns among civil society groups about freedom of expression and digital rights.
Critics argue that some requests are overly broad or are used to suppress dissent, investigative journalism or political criticism rather than address genuinely harmful content.
As a result, platforms continue to face a delicate balancing act between complying with lawful government orders and safeguarding users’ rights in the digital public square.
