Microsoft for First Time Publishes Removal Request Stats on Revenge Porn Content

Microsoft received 537 requests from July to December "to remove links to revenge porn photos or videos from Bing search results, or to remove access to the content itself when shared on OneDrive or Xbox Live," the company said in a blog post Friday. Citing its latest content removal request report, Steve Lippman, corporate responsibility director, said the company took action on 338 requests that met the criteria for removal. In the other cases, Microsoft needed more information or the content didn't contain nudity or didn't generally meet the accepted definitions of revenge porn, he said. It's the first time the report contained information on requests for removing nude or sexually explicit photos or videos of people published online without their permission. Citing its latest law enforcement requests and U.S. national security orders reports, Lippman said Microsoft received 39,083 legal requests for customer information from law enforcement agencies in the second half of 2015 -- 3,855 more than in the first half. Just over 2 percent of the requests resulted in the disclosure of content that customers created, shared or stored, based on court orders or warrants. On the latest Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requests, Microsoft received 0 to 499 FISA orders, seeking disclosure of content in 15,500 to 15,999 accounts. In the previous period, it received 0 to 999 orders for content affecting 18,000 to 18,999 accounts, Lippman said. Microsoft also got 0 to 499 national security letters in the latest period, compared with 0 to 999 in the prior period. "Requests from law enforcement agencies in five countries -- United States, United Kingdom, Turkey, France and Germany -- represent 76.8 percent of total requests in the second half of 2015," he wrote.