Social media platform Twitter is known to have just published their 20th transparency report. In the report, the platform from the United States showed a significant increase in the number of requests for user account data.
The social network saw a ‘record high’ in the number of account data requests during the reporting period July-December 2021, with 47,572 lawsuits on 198,931 accounts. Of course, these details are highly inconclusive for users who are concerned about misuse of personal information.
According to a report from Twitter, the media is said to be the first target to get a lot of pressure. So far, the app noted, government demands for data from news outlets and verified journalists jumped 103 percent compared to the last report, with 349 accounts under scrutiny.
Reporting from Engadget (2/8), countries with requests for user account data information targeting the news industry include India, Turkey and Russia. Through existing reports, India is recorded to have requested user account data 114 times, followed by Turkey 78 times and Russia 55 times.
Meanwhile, in reports in previous years, the US was ranked first in requests for account data for Twitter application users. The country accounts for 20 percent of all account data requests worldwide which account for 39 percent of the total specified accounts.
The social media platform revealed that Russia is still the next biggest applicant for requests for user account data. Even if the country’s demand falls by as much as 20 percent over a period of six months.
Regarding requests for user account data, Twitter stated that it still refuses or restricts access to the data if possible. So far, Twitter has rejected 31 percent of US data requests and narrowed down 60 percent of global requests. Additionally, Twitter is said to have opposed 29 civilian attempts to identify anonymous US users on First Amendment grounds.
Requests for user account data received by Twitter reportedly jumped from early 2020 and were confirmed from the transparency report that the company just published. The data in the report shows that the demand for user account data continues to increase until now.
In fact, in its report, Twitter sees efforts to target journalists to be greater in requests for account data made by government agencies from several countries. According to Twitter, this could be an increasing threat to press freedom.
“We will add that the situation is unstable, at least in the near future,” Twitter said, quoted from Engadget.
