The Lacuna Project

lacuna (n.) a gap in a record where something should be

Independent research. Not affiliated with any government, agency, or company.

Company

Alphabet Inc. (Google, YouTube)

Findings that rest on exhibits naming this entity

  • INF-4.5: Meta (26 August 2024) and Alphabet (23 September 2025) each wrote to the House Judiciary Committee that senior Biden administration officials pressed them in 2021 over COVID-19 content, and each wrote that the company made its own decisions on removal and enforcement.
  • INF-4.6: Google's U.S. table lists 717 court and government requests naming 6,991 items in 2021, mostly for defamation, trademark and privacy, with no misinformation category. Meta's report excludes government reports handled under its Community Standards and lists 3 U.S. items for the first half of 2021 and 21 for the second, and X's report for January to June 2024 has no separate U.S. line in its removal table.
  • INF-4.7: No public dataset states how many government reports to platforms from 2017 to 2024 led to removal, by agency, platform and administration. The only figure in the record is the FBI agent's recollection of about half.
  • INF-4.11: Justice Alexandre de Moraes of Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal ordered X suspended in Brazil on 30 August 2024 until X complied with the Court's orders, paid fines and named a legal representative in Brazil.

Exhibits naming this entity

  • Exhibit 1128 30 August 2024. Supremo Tribunal Federal (Brazil), Justice Alexandre de Moraes (rapporteur); joined by the First Panel on 2-3 September 2024: Supremo Tribunal Federal, Pet 12.404/DF, Decision of Justice Alexandre de Moraes (suspension of X in Brazil), 30 August 2024
  • Exhibit 1139 23 September 2025. Alphabet Inc. and YouTube (through counsel): Letter from Daniel F. Donovan (King & Spalding, counsel for Alphabet Inc. and YouTube) to Chairman Jim Jordan, House Committee on the Judiciary
  • Exhibit 1140 30 October 2025. House Committee on the Judiciary, Democratic staff (Ranking Member Jamie Raskin): Letter from Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (House Judiciary Committee Democrats) to YouTube CEO Neal Mohan
  • Exhibit 1147 29 September 2021. YouTube (Alphabet Inc.): Managing harmful vaccine content on YouTube (YouTube Official Blog)
  • Exhibit 1148 Data through 31 December 2025; accessed 10 November 2026. Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.): Government requests to remove content (Google Transparency Report), data download of 1 July to 31 December 2025 edition