YouTube has reported that it took down 1.7 million videos in India between July and September this year, the most of any country in the world.

The Google-owned video platform removed more content from India than any other nation during this period, according to its Transparency Report. In comparison, YouTube removed 1.2 million videos from Brazil, which was the second-highest after India; while France and Germany were third and fourth respectively with 668k and 537k taken down during the same period.

This news will likely come as a surprise to many since India is home to some of YouTube’s top creators like Ashish Chanchlani and BB Ki Vines who have millions of followers on the platform.

In a surprising turn of events, YouTube recently announced that it had removed 1.32 million videos in India over the previous quarter, from April to June 2019. This marks a nearly four-fold increase from the 331,000 videos YouTube took down throughout the same period last year.

The company attributed this steep rise to an upgrade of its automated content policies and removal system. It also highlighted that 90% of these removals were made before any user flagged them as inappropriate or offensive. YouTube said that this is further proof of its dedication to ensuring a safe and secure environment for viewers around the world.

YouTube’s stringent content policies have seen success in other parts of the world as well, with more than 5 million videos removed globally in Q2 2019 alone – 2 times higher than what was taken down during the same period last year.

The amount of videos removed from YouTube in India during July-September is staggering and is a surprise to many. This drastic step could be seen as an attempt by YouTube to take serious action against the ever-growing problem of hate speech, harassment, and other disturbing content that has been posted on the platform. The sheer number of videos removed shows how much work still needs to be done in order to ensure a safe online environment for everyone.