GitHub Reports 708 Government Takedown Requests in H1 2026 Due to Reporting Methodology Changes

GitHub's latest Transparency Center data reveals a significant increase in government takedown requests, rising from 98 in all of 2025 to 708 in the first half of 2026. The company attributes this surge primarily to changes in reporting methodology, which now includes all requests regardless of legal basis and counts duplicates, rather than an actual increase in content removals.

In state policy, GitHub engaged actively during the 2026 legislative session. In California, engagement helped refine the California AI Transparency Act (SB 1000), which was enrolled on August 30, 2026, and awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature by September 30, 2026. However, follow-up legislation AB 2713 failed to adopt amendments clarifying that definitions of "large online platform" should not apply to code repositories. In Colorado, changes to the Age Attestation on Computing Devices law (SB 26) addressed concerns for open source software, while Illinois signed the Children’s Social Media Safety Act (HB 5511) into law despite remaining implementation challenges.

Looking ahead, GitHub is monitoring the DMCA Section 1201 triennial rulemaking, focusing on exemptions for FOSS license-compliance investigations and good-faith security research. The company also plans to advocate for policies that distinguish consumer-facing AI services from developer tools to protect the open source ecosystem.