Twitter Now ‘Rejects’ Most Copyright Takedown Requests

Takedown notices are a vital tool for copyright holders who want to make sure that infringing copies of their work are not widely distributed.

Every week, millions of these requests are sent to hosting platforms and third-party services, including social media networks.

Twitter is certainly no exception. In fact, quite a few high-profile DMCA takedown notices have been sent to the platform, including several that targeted tweets from former U.S. President Trump.

This week, Twitter published a new update to its transparency report, highlighting the latest takedown volumes and trends. It reveals that the number of copyright notices received during the first half of 2021 increased slightly compared to the six months before.

Takedown Notices Increase

When combining the numbers of Twitter and Periscope, there’s a 6% increase in DMCA requests, from 169k to 179k. However, if we zoom in, it becomes apparent that notices sent to Periscope were down by roughly 80% while Twitter’s numbers increased by more than a third.

The number of processed requests only tells part of the story though. One notice can flag dozens of tweets and media files, or just one. Also, not all reported content is removed or withheld by Twitter. In fact, most takedown requests processed by Twitter now result in no action.

Most Notices Result in No Action

Twitter’s transparency report shows that the compliance rate dropped to an all-time low in the latest reporting period. For Twitter, only 31% of all takedown requests resulted in ‘removals,’ which is down from 59% during the previous reporting period.