"Using panel data, our result suggest that cross-nationally, users were less likely to search using search terms that they believed might get them in trouble with the U. S. government."
Since their data is based on Google Trends, the only conclusion they can validly draw from their research is that users were less likely to search for such terms on Google. People with sensitive search topics may have moved to a search engine like DuckDuckGo, which doesn't log users' searches.
Since their data is based on Google Trends, the only conclusion they can validly draw from their research is that users were less likely to search for such terms on Google. People with sensitive search topics may have moved to a search engine like DuckDuckGo, which doesn't log users' searches.