20 October 2025
Analysis reveals efforts from state-linked actors and reputation management firms to remove mirrored content exposing corruption and abuse of power.
Qurium Media Foundation has uncovered multiple takedown requests submitted to Google targeting its Bifrost mirror service, an initiative designed to keep independent journalism accessible in countries with heavy Internet censorship.
For nearly a decade, Bifrost has enabled access to blocked news sites by automatically creating live mirrors of dynamic WordPress-based websites. These mirrors are hosted on large-scale cloud platforms such as Google Cloud and Amazon S3, which are too costly for most censorship regimes to block at scale. This allows readers to access censored material through standard web links—without the need for VPNs, apps, or special browser extensions.
Thanks to the Lumen Database, an online transparency project that collects and analyzes legal complaints and takedown requests made to platforms like Google, Twitter (X), Reddit, and Wikipedia, Qurium discovered that its mirrored content had been subject to a number of takedown demands.
Qurium has launched a detailed review to determine who was submitting these requests, what content was being targeted, and how frequently such efforts occurred.
Qurium’s investigation reveals coordinated international efforts to suppress journalism and erase investigative reporting through legal mechanisms. The takedown demands came from state-linked institutions and reputation management firms operating in Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Russia, and Venezuela.
While most claims target individual articles for defamation or copyright purposes, the Russian authorities (Roskomnadzor) demand takedown of complete domains.
Notably, Google has not complied with any of the 20 takedown requests. All articles and mirrored websites remain accessible through Google Search. Nevertheless, Qurium was not notified about the requests, apart from one case, an omission that limited transparency and hindered further investigation. Greater transparency from Google in these cases would have been valuable from an investigative standpoint.
“These takedown requests demonstrate how authoritarian actors and their proxies attempt to silence independent voices,” says Tord Lundström, Qurium’s Executive Director.
Forensic report: Analysis of global takedown attempts targeting Qurium’s Bifrost Mirrors
Contacts
Digital forensics: Tord Lundström <t at virtualroad.org> Technical Director
Media: Clara Zid <info at virtualroad.org> Media and Outreach Manager