Facebook launches first transparency report: Half of the orders come from the US

Tencent Tech Lin Jingdong August 28 compiled Facebook's first transparency report in Tuesday, saying that 74 government departments in the first half of the year asked companies to provide information about 38,000 users, about half of which were from U.S. government departments. Before Facebook, Microsoft and Google (Weibo) had issued transparency reports. As with other companies ' transparency reports, it's hard to see what's coming out of Facebook's data. Facebook's transparency report says only one thing: as global users flock to the world's largest social networking site, police and intelligence agencies are trailing. Facebook and Twitter have been organising their platforms, but they have also become a target for governments. During the anti-government protests in Turkey this 5 June, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) called social media "the worst threat to society". Facebook said it did not provide the Turkish Government with information about the organizers of the protests. Data released by Facebook in Tuesday showed that government departments in Turkey submitted 96 requests, involving 173 users. Facebook said it provided information about 45 of its users, but it did not disclose what it provided and why. "We have fought a lot of demands, and if we find that their demands are not in accordance with the law, we will dismiss them," said Colin Stretch, general counsel for Facebook, in a blog post, Collinsterece the scope of the request. When we receive specific instructions, we often only provide basic user information, such as name and so on. "Facebook spokeswoman Sarafe Feinberg said the company insists it did not provide information on the Turkish protesters. She said: "The data included in the report relate to child endangerment and emergency enforcement requirements." "Facebook and other technology companies have been blamed for helping the National Security ministry secretly collect user data," he said. Federal law stipulates that the Government has the right to require those companies to provide user information without approval, although it is not easy for those companies to protest the directives of government departments in closed court hearings. Facebook responded to 60% of government directives and provided some data. The data from Facebook do not show how many of the 26,000 orders made by government departments for 38,000 of users were issued for law enforcement and intelligence gathering. Technical and government officials say crime investigations are more prevalent than national security matters because they often require companies to provide information. Because the federal department forbids those companies to disclose how many times they receive requests. Facebook offers only some information about the U.S. market. FaCebook said it intended to release those data on a regular basis.