Transparency Report
July 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018
Released: May 15, 2019
Last Updated: June 7, 2019
Snapchat Transparency Reports are released twice a year. These reports provide important insight into the volume and nature of governmental requests for Snapchatters' account information and other legal notifications.
Since November 15, 2015, our policy has been to notify Snapchatters when we receive legal process seeking their account information, with exceptions for cases where we are legally prohibited from doing so, or when we believe there are exceptional circumstances (like child exploitation or an imminent risk of death or bodily injury).
At Snap, we support industry-wide efforts to improve content moderation reporting and transparency practices. In doing so, however, we recognize that technology platforms facilitate content creation, sharing, and retention in vastly different ways. As our platform evolves, so too, will Snap Transparency Reports, laying the groundwork to publish new categories of information to inform our community in the future. We support the spirit of the Santa Clara Principles on Transparency and Accountability in Content Moderation in creating a framework for best practices in content moderation.
For more information about how we handle law enforcement data requests, please take a look at our Law Enforcement Guide, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.
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 | 6828 | 11188 | 87% |
| Subpoena | 1624 | 3231 | 83% |
| PRTT | 54 | 76 | 94% |
| Court Order | 175 | 679 | 87% |
| Search Warrant | 4091 | 6097 | 92% |
| EDR | 801 | 911 | 69% |
| Wiretap Order | 6 | 15 | 100% |
| Summons | 77 | 179 | 75% |
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 request where some data was produced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 400 | 477 | 71% | 469 | 667 | 0% |
| Argentina | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5 | 5 | 0% |
| Australia | 9 | 11 | 33% | 13 | 29 | 0% |
| Austria | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6 | 10 | 0% |
| Belgium | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 8 | 0% |
| Brazil | 0 | 0 | N/A | 6 | 8 | 0% |
| Canada | 120 | 134 | 82% | 8 | 14 | 13% |
| Columbia | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Cyprus | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Denmark | 0 | 0 | N/A | 10 | 11 | 0% |
| Estonia | 0 | 0 | N/A | 2 | 2 | 0% |
| France | 32 | 39 | 56% | 73 | 108 | 0% |
| Germany | 15 | 40 | 67% | 67 | 96 | 0% |
| Hungary | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 13 | 0% |
| India | 6 | 7 | 50% | 29 | 36 | 0% |
| Ireland | 0 | 0 | N/A | 4 | 5 | 0% |
| Israel | 2 | 2 | 0% | 2 | 4 | 0% |
| Lithuania | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Mexico | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Netherlands | 6 | 7 | 33% | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| Norway | 7 | 8 | 86% | 21 | 39 | 0% |
| Poland | 1 | 1 | 0% | 2 | 3 | 0% |
| Slovenia | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Spain | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| Sweden | 6 | 8 | 50% | 19 | 28 | 0% |
| Switzerland | 9 | 14 | 56% | 7 | 7 | 0% |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1 | 0% | 1 | 1 | 0% |
| United Kingdom | 186 | 205 | 74% | 186 | 234 | 1% |
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 | 250-499 |
Governmental Content Removal Requests
This category identifies demands 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 content was removed |
|---|---|
| 0 | N/A |
Note: 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.
This category identifies demands by a government entity to remove content that would be a violation under our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.
| Country | Number of requests | Number of posts removed or restricted or number of accounts suspended |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 25 | 27 |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 11 |
| United States | 4 | 4 |
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 |
|---|---|
| 60 | 45% |
| DMCA Counter-Notices | Percentage of requests where some content was reinstated |
|---|---|
| 0 | N/A |
* “Account Identifiers” reflects the number of identifiers (e.g. username, email address, phone number, etc.) 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.