• Bits Blog, Tuesday, September 21, 2010 11:32 AM

Google today is expected to debut a Transparency Report tool, which will publish where and when Internet traffic to Google sites is blocked, while the blockages will be annotated with details when possible. "For instance, the tool shows that YouTube has been blocked in Iran since the disputed presidential election in June 2009," notes The New York Times' Bits blog.

The Transparency Report will also house Google's government requests tool, a map that shows every time a government has asked Google to take down or hand over information, and what percentage of the time Google has complied. As Bits notes, Google has lately found itself on the receiving end of criticism from privacy and transparency advocates." As such, Transparency Report represents Google "trying to convince [advocates] that the company is on their side." Government requests might include court orders to remove hateful content or a subpoena to pass along information about a Google user, according to Bits.

Read the whole story at Bits Blog »