Google is banning all adult content from its blogging platorm Blogger, and giving affected users just one month to comply. The new rules require any blog with “sexually explicit or graphic nude images or video” to take them down by 23 March, or the blog will be made private by Google. A private blog can only be seen by the owner or admins of the blog, and people who the owner has shared the blog with.
In an updated entry in its support database, Google says it will still allow nudity on Blogger blogs if the images or video offer “substantial public benefit,” for example in “artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts.” If explicit content doesn’t conform to that definition, then the company suggests that users remove the offending media entirely, or mark it as private.
Blogger’s previous policy allowed explicit images and videos if the blog was marked as “adult,” stating that “censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression.” However, last summer, in an attempt to crack down on porn spam, the company announced that blogs would no longer be allowed to monetize adult content through advertising.
Nonetheless, this is a big about-turn for Google, whose Blogger content policy still states: “It is our belief that censoring this content is contrary to a service that bases itself on freedom of expression.”
Although Google isn’t known for taking a prudish attitude to content, explicit videos are also banned on YouTube, the biggest site Google has where it directly hosts user content. The site’s rules state: “YouTube is not for pornography or sexually explicit content. If this describes your video, even if it’s a video of yourself, don’t post it on YouTube.”
Other Google services that host user-uploaded content have similar polices. Google Plus, the company’s social network, warns users: “Do not distribute content that contains nudity, graphic sex acts, or sexually explicit material.” Its rules for profile pictures are even stricter: “Do not use a photo that is a close-up of a person’s buttocks or cleavage.”
In the meantime, owners of adult blogs can export their content as an .xml file and back it up via Google Takeout to make the switch to WordPress or Tumblr (which both allow explicit posts within reason) easier. Those old accounts with adult content might not be completely lost to the internet, though. Internet Archive’s Jason Scott has announced that his team will be backing up Blogger accounts, but it will be tough, because they don’t know what Google will be making private until it’s already gone.
