NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter said government requests for user data grew sharply in the past six months as more countries asked for a greater amount of information about users.

More than half of the requests came from the United States, as has been the case since Twitter began issuing its “transparency report” in 2012. Typically, the requests are part of criminal investigations. To obtain non-public information about users — such as email addresses — law enforcement agencies have to get a subpoena or court order. Requests for the contents of communications — such as direct messages or non-public tweets — require a search warrant.