The interim government asked Google to remove 279 pieces of content in the first six months of 2025, the bulk of them critical of the government, according to the company’s newly released transparency report. Google, however, acted on only a small fraction of those requests.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, this week published its report covering January to June 2025, detailing the types of content governments sought to remove and how the firm responded. The figures include requests originating from various state agencies.

The report shows that Bangladesh issued 279 requests concerning 1,023 individual items. In the corresponding period of 2024, when the Awami League was still in office, the government had lodged 337 requests covering 4,470 items. That administration fell in August 2024 following a student-led uprising, after which the interim government was installed.

An analysis of this year’s figures indicates that 181 of the requests in 2025 related to material critical of the government, all concerning YouTube videos. A further 38 requests involved restricted goods and services, while 32 concerned alleged defamation. The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) was the most active agency in submitting takedown demands.

Google said more than 65 per cent of the items flagged by Bangladesh lacked sufficient information for any action. It took no steps in 16.1 per cent of cases, found that 9 per cent of the content had already been removed, and said 3.5 per cent could not be located. A further 2.5 per cent were taken down following legal process, while 3.7 per cent were removed for policy violations.

YouTube, which enforces its own community guidelines, removed 621,655 videos originating from Bangladesh between January and June 2025 for breaching platform rules.

Following its assumption of power, the interim government scrapped the Cyber Security Act and replaced it with the Cyber Safety Ordinance. Under section 8, BTRC retains the authority to ask social media platforms to block content, as it could under the previous legislation. The new framework adds a requirement that, in the interest of transparency, all blocked content must be publicly disclosed.

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