Institute of Digital Rights: removal of content for legal reasons from the Internet is not transparent in Estonia

Photo: Peeter Langovits / Postimees

The overall conclusion of the preliminary report of Project «451» by the Institute of Digital Rights is that the removal of online content for legal reasons is not transparent in Estonia. Data about requests for removal are not gathered or, if gathered, they are incomplete and unsystematic.

«The NSA scandal proves once again that countries should be more honest and transparent on the Internet,» says the project leader Silver Meikar.

«The Institute of Digital Rights is convinced that the right to freedom of speech on the Internet can only be guaranteed when it is known, who and on what basis removes content and what kind of content is removed from the Internet,» he adds.

The aim of the preliminary report is to map the legal framework regulating the removal of content, the procedures for the removal of content for legal reasons and the availability of relevant data in Estonia. The Project’s website will also be launched http://451.ee; in addition to the preliminary report an overview is given about the laws regulating the removal of content as well as articles and interviews on the topic.

«Project «451» helps to ensure that the principles of Internet freedom and open governance are followed in Estonia,» says Meikar. «Governments who think that freedom of the Internet is important should collect and publish data about the requests to remove illegal content from the Internet.»

The idea for the project emerged after the publication of Google Transparency Report, which discloses information about the requests of countries to remove illegal pieces of content from the services offered by Google, for example Google search results and YouTube. Google, which publishes its own transparency report, supported this project, though it exercised no editorial control.

The name of Project «451» refers to HTTP Status Code 451, defined as «unavailable for legal reasons».

The preliminary report of Project «451» will be presented on the premises of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations at 8, Rotermanni, Tallinn on Saturday, 15 June at 4.51 pm.