Wikimedia transparency report reveals hundreds of takedown requests, 57 links removed by Google

Wikimedia, the company behind Wikipedia, published its first annual transparency report this morning.

The report reveals 304 general takedown requests, zero of which were granted; 58 DMCA takedown requests, 41 percent of which were approved; 56 private user data requests from governments and corporations, 14 percent of which were granted; and 57 links removed by Google due to the European Union’s “right to be forgotten” ruling.

According to Wikimedia, some of the requests it received “are legitimate.” Some, however, “are not.” The company has clearly opted to set this distinction on its own, internally. Wikimedia’s report reveals a deep look into the sort of requests it has received over the past 12 months, accompanied by some humorous explanations. The owner of the camera that led to this famous monkey selfie, for example, was denied a takedown request because he did not take the picture, the monkey did. Thus, the camera owner did not own the copyright — in Wikipedia’s eyes.

Wikimedia also today published a full list of links removed from Google as a result of the EU’s forget-me ruling, of which two concern Wikipedia’s English language site, two affect Wikipedia’s Italian language site, and a whopping 53 affect Wikipedia’s Dutch language site.