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Google Knocks Explicit Adult Content On Blogger From Public View
Ellie K writes As of 23 March 2015, Google will remove blogs on its Blogger platform that don't conform to its new anti-adult policies. This is an abrupt reversal of policy. Until today, Google allowed "images or videos that contain nudity or sexual activity," and stated that "Censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression." The linked article quotes the message which has been sent to Blogger users thus: (...) In the coming weeks, we'll no longer allow blogs that contain sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video. We'll still allow nudity presented in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts, or presented where there are other substantial benefits to the public from not taking action on the content.
The new policy will go into effect on the 23rd of March 2015. After this policy goes into effect, Google will restrict access to any blog identified as being in violation of our revised policy. No content will be deleted, but only blog authors and those with whom they have expressly shared the blog will be able to see the content we've made private.
I wonder if this isn't motivated at least in substantial part by copyright concerns. A huge portion of adult content posted is in violation of copyright, and if Google was seeing that they were getting DMCA notices for adult content on Blogger at rates that far exceed the overall average, and the cost/effort of responding to those notices was outstripping the ad revenue from the adult blogs, then maybe they just decided it's not worth it.
Purely speculation on my part, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Get your own blogging platform.
The full quote is Voltaire's, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."
I'm unimpressed by Google's position: in other countries they push back against restriction on free speech. It seem incongrous to impose speech limitations in the US, which actually has the right to free speech as part of their constitution.
davecb@spamcop.net
Consider:
You own a business that the Government does not like.
The Government then starts a program, maybe one called Operation Choke Point that pressures banks to withhold services from YOU, thereby making it near impossible for you to do business.
That is pretty much the Government forcing you out of business, or censoring you, in effect, by using a third party.
And in case you wondering, it goes like this with the banks..."That's a nice bank you have there. It'd be a shame if we had to do a top to bottom audit. Who knows what we'd find, how much it would cost you, or how long it would take. But we could avoid that if you did us a favor..."
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
We have grown used to using Google to search everything on the Web. If we suddenly are no longer able to google one particular kind of content, someone will offer their own search engine, supported by specialized advertising, for it. Economics will dictate that specialized search engines will not try to compete with Google in general search, so in a fairly short time I can see "googling" be replaced by use of a number of search engines for different kinds of activity. An unintended consequence may be that the half-mystical "deep Web" that Google cannot access will become just another specialized search arena, equal to all the others.