Majority of Kenyan govt content takedown requests denied by Google – report
By Aloys Michael, February 10, 2026Google rejected nearly 62 per cent of content removal requests submitted by the Kenyan government in the six months ending June 2025.
According to the company’s latest Global Transparency Report, the rejection rate has been rising steadily over the past year, even as Kenya significantly increased the number of takedown requests it submitted.
During the same period, government requests worldwide actually decreased.
In comparison, Google turned down 46 per cent of Kenya’s requests in the six months leading to December 2024, while the rejection rate was 25 per cent in the half-year to June 2024.
Most requests focused on YouTube videos and Google Search results, with authorities citing reasons such as national security, defamation, hate speech, privacy violations, and impersonation.
These demands were primarily submitted through the Communications Authority, which serves as the government’s main liaison with digital platforms on content regulation.
While Google granted a small portion of requests involving clear breaches of its platform policies, many were rejected due to insufficient detail or failure to meet the company’s content removal standards.
“Often times, governments’ requests target political content and government criticism,” the report noted.
Google emphasised that each request is reviewed individually to determine whether removal is justified under its policies and legal obligations.
The new figures emerge amid heightened government scrutiny of social media platforms in Kenya.
In 2025, 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, digital rights and safety.