Government Requests and Copyrighted Content Takedown Notices (DMCA)
January 1, 2021 – June 30, 2021
A critical part of our work to make Snapchat safer is working with law enforcement and government agencies to fulfill valid requests for information to assist in investigations. We also work to proactively escalate any content that could involve imminent threats to life.
While content on Snapchat is ephemeral, we preserve and provide account information to government agencies in accordance with applicable law. Once we have received and established the validity of a legal request for Snapchat account records — which is important in verifying the request is being made by a legitimate law enforcement agency and not a bad actor — we respond in compliance with applicable law and privacy requirements.
The chart below details the types of requests we support from law enforcement and government agencies, including subpoenas and summons, court orders, search warrants and emergency disclosure requests.
United States Criminal Legal Requests
Requests for User Information pursuant to U.S. legal process.
| Category | Requests | Account Identifiers | Percentage of requests where some data was produced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 18,742 | 31,848 | 78% |
| Subpoena / Summons | 4,578 | 11,115 | 78% |
| PRTT | 413 | 641 | 84% |
| Court Order | 286 | 675 | 82% |
| Search Warrant | 11,803 | 17,328 | 81% |
| EDR | 1,637 | 2,024 | 61% |
| Wiretap Order | 25 | 65 | 84% |
International Government Information Requests
Requests for User Information from government entities outside the United States.
| Country | Emergency Requests | Account Identifiers* for Emergency Requests | Percentage of emergency requests where some data was produced | Other Information Requests | Account Identifiers for Other Requests | Percentage of other information requests where some data was produced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1,470 | 1,851 | 64% | 8,497 | 11,337 | 56% |
| Argentina | 0 | 0 | 0% | 3 | 3 | 0% |
| Australia | 32 | 45 | 41% | 122 | 151 | 11% |
| Austria | 1 | 1 | 100% | 35 | 51 | 3% |
| Belgium | 5 | 5 | 40% | 250 | 350 | 57% |
| Brazil | 2 | 2 | 100% | 2 | 4 | 0% |
| Canada | 390 | 485 | 66% | 218 | 288 | 63% |
| Chile | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Cyprus | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 0% |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 1 | 100% | 2 | 2 | 0% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0 | 0% | 176 | 284 | 1% |
| Dominican Republic | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 0% |
| Estonia | 0 | 0 | 0% | 8 | 8 | 0% |
| Finland | 5 | 5 | 40% | 10 | 15 | 0% |
| France | 102 | 116 | 52% | 1,902 | 2,464 | 47% |
| Germany | 104 | 129 | 69% | 1,184 | 1,332 | 39% |
| Gibraltar | 2 | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Greece | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Hungary | 0 | 0 | 0% | 6 | 8 | 0% |
| India | 12 | 16 | 33% | 129 | 176 | 5% |
| Ireland | 7 | 11 | 0% | 46 | 86 | 0% |
| Israel | 2 | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Italy | 3 | 3 | 0% | 9 | 11 | 0% |
| Japan | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Jordan | 1 | 2 | 0% | 4 | 6 | 0% |
| Kuwait | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 3 | 0% |
| Lithuania | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Luxembourg | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Macedonia | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 4 | 0% |
| Malta | 0 | 0 | 0% | 7 | 7 | 0% |
| Moldova | 1 | 1 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Monaco | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 0% |
| Netherlands | 27 | 37 | 41% | 95 | 90 | 48% |
| New Zealand | 4 | 4 | 50% | 16 | 29 | 44% |
| Norway | 61 | 87 | 66% | 69 | 111 | 0% |
| Pakistan | 1 | 1 | 0% | 8 | 10 | 0% |
| Poland | 7 | 12 | 43% | 34 | 47 | 0% |
| Portugal | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Qatar | 9 | 12 | 0% | 2 | 2 | 0% |
| Romania | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Russian Federation | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Singapore | 0 | 0 | 0% | 3 | 3 | 0% |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | 0% | 13 | 15 | 0% |
| Sweden | 10 | 11 | 80% | 751 | 1,215 | 84% |
| Switzerland | 11 | 12 | 45% | 25 | 74 | 0% |
| Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 0% |
| United Arab Emirates | 12 | 12 | 17% | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| United Kingdom | 639 | 810 | 70% | 3,343 | 4,455 | 73% |
* “Account Identifiers” reflects the number of identifiers (e.g., username, email address, and phone number) specified by law enforcement in legal process when requesting user information. Some legal process may include more than one identifier. In some instances, multiple identifiers may identify a single account. In instances where a single identifier is specified in multiple requests, each instance is included.
United States National Security Requests
Requests for User Information pursuant to national security legal process.
| National Security | Requests | Account Identifiers* |
|---|---|---|
| NSLs and FISA Orders/Directives | 0-249 | 1,250-1,499 |
Governmental Content Removal Requests
This category identifies demands made by a government entity to remove content that would otherwise be permissible under our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.
| Removal Requests | Percentage of requests where some info was removed |
|---|---|
| 0 | N/A |
Note: Although we do not formally track when we remove content that violates our policies when a request has been made by a governmental entity, we believe it is an extremely rare occurrence. When we believe it is necessary to restrict content that is deemed unlawful in a particular country, but does not otherwise violate our policies, we seek to restrict access to it geographically when possible, rather than remove it globally.
Copyrighted Content Takedown Notices (DMCA)
This category reflects any valid takedown notices we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
| DMCA Takedown Notices | Percentage of requests where some content was removed |
|---|---|
| 145 | 71% |
| DMCA Counter-Notices | Percentage of requests where some content was reinstated |
|---|---|
| 0 | N/A |
Trademark Notices
| Trademark Notices | Percentage of requests where some content was removed |
|---|---|
| 109 | 17% |