In Brazil, Google is in the middle of a battle over free speech

Here’s a quiz: Google received more than 1,900 requests from governments worldwide to remove content from its various services last year. Which country led the planet in this dubious category, with 418 such demands? China? Iran? Syria? No. It was democratic, pluralistic, economically vibrant Brazil.

Many Brazilians were mortified last week when a judge detained Google’s top official in the nation over a YouTube video that had stirred ire in a mayoral campaign. But it was no aberration. The struggle over free speech is playing out most vividly today in countries that are America’s friends rather than its enemies, in nations where the right of expression is embraced in concept but often rankles in practice, say analysts. That is particularly true among a group of countries – think India, Thailand and Turkey, as well as Brazil – where fragile democratic institutions are struggling to manage the disruptions caused by increasingly pervasive technology.