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).
As technology and platforms have evolved, so too has the practice of providing important information to the public. Starting with this Transparency Report, we are providing insights into the volume and nature of accounts reported on Snapchat for violations of our Terms of Service or Community Guidelines.
We believe these disclosures provide our community with useful information on the volume and types of content reported and enforced on Snapchat. This knowledge will assist us in creating effective solutions to address harmful content.
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.
Category
Requests
Account Identifiers
Percentage of requests where some data was produced
Total
11,903
19,214
78%
Subpoena
2,398
4,812
75%
PRTT
92
141
85%
Court Order
206
475
82%
Search Warrant
7,628
11,452
81%
EDR
1,403
1,668
67%
Wiretap Order
17
35
82%
Summons
159
631
86%
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
775
924
64%
1,196
1,732
36%
Argentina
0
0
0%
1
2
0%
Australia
20
26
30%
33
57
6%
Austria
1
1
100%
7
7
0%
Bahrain
1
1
0%
0
0
0%
Belgium
4
4
100%
29
36
0%
Canada
197
236
71%
29
70
59%
Denmark
2
2
50%
38
57
0%
Estonia
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Finland
3
4
33%
3
1
0%
France
66
87
52%
94
107
49%
Germany
96
107
63%
149
197
1%
Greece
0
0
0%
2
2
0%
Hungary
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Iceland
2
2
100%
0
0
0%
India
4
5
50%
39
54
0%
Ireland
4
5
50%
3
6
0%
Israel
6
7
50%
0
0
0%
Italy
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Jordan
1
1
0%
5
5
0%
Macedonia
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Malaysia
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Maldives
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Malta
0
0
0%
2
2
0%
Mexico
0
0
0%
1
2
0%
Netherlands
21
26
76%
2
2
0%
New Zealand
0
0
0%
5
9
0%
Norway
9
7
44%
55
66
0%
Pakistan
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Poland
3
5
33%
11
19
0%
Qatar
7
7
43%
2
0
0%
Romania
0
0
0%
2
3
0%
Singapore
0
0
0%
2
2
0%
Slovenia
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Spain
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
Sweden
6
10
33%
31
55
0%
Switzerland
10
13
60%
17
30
0%
Turkey
0
0
0%
1
1
0%
United Arab Emirates
8
10
38%
0
0
0%
United Kingdom
304
358
68%
613
919
60%
* “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.
National Security
Requests
Account Identifiers*
NSLs and FISA Orders/Directives
O-249
1250-1499
Removal Requests
Percentage of requests where some content 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.
Country
Number of requests
Number of posts removed or restricted or number of accounts suspended
Australia
42
55
France
46
67
Iraq
2
2
New Zealand
19
29
Qatar
1
1
United Kingdom
17
20
DMCA Takedown Notices
57
DMCA Counter-Notices
Percentage of requests where some content was reinstated
0
0%
We enforced against 3,788,227 pieces of content, globally, for violations of our Community Guidelines, which amounts to less than .012% of total Story postings. Our teams take action on such violations, whether it’s to remove content, delete accounts, report information to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), or escalate to law enforcement. In the vast majority of cases, we enforce against content within 2 hours of receiving an in-app report.
Reason
Content Reports*
Content Enforced
Unique Accounts Enforced
Harassment and Bullying
918,902
221,246
185,815
Hate Speech
181,789
46,936
41,381
Impersonation
1,272,934
29,972
28,101
Regulated Goods
467,822
248,581
140,583
Sexually Explicit Content
5,428,455
2,930,946
747,797
Spam
579,767
63,917
34,574
Threats/Violence/Harm
1,056,437
246,629
176,912
Total
9,906,106
3,788,227
1,355,163
*The Content Reports reflect alleged violations via our in app reporting product.
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The exploitation of any member of our community, especially minors, is absolutely unacceptable and criminal. Preventing, detecting, and eliminating abuse on our platform is a top priority and we work hard to combat this type of illegal activity, informed by our partnerships with NCMEC, law enforcement, and trusted experts that make up Snap’s Safety Advisory Board. In addition to taking action on reported content, we utilize proactive detection methods to stop the spread of CSAM before it occurs. Of the total accounts enforced against for Community Guidelines violations, we removed 2.51% for CSAM takedown.
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