After major backlash from many members of its Blogger network, Google Inc GOOG 0.53% GOOGL 0.6% backed off of its recent stance against sexually explicit images. According to BBC, Google announced earlier this week that users of its Blogger platform that feature explicit images would be required to set their blogs to “private” on March 23.
As a post in Google’s product forum early Friday morning noted, the company received “a ton of feedback” following the announcement, and Google has now decided to maintain its current policy of requiring explicit blogs to identify themselves as “adult.”
Noting that the potential change would have affected bloggers who have had accounts for more than 10 years, Google backed down from inducing any potential negative impact on these long-time users. Google also acknowledged that some of its users feel that the use of explicit images allows them to “express their identities.”
Google clarifies that its objection to “explicit images” was never a stance against nudity, as it would have allowed nudity “in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts.”
Under the current policy, readers see a warning page before they are allowed to continue to adult blogs on Blogger. In addition, Google can add its own “adult” label on blogs when it feels it is appropriate for the content.
In the forum post, Google made clear its latest decision does not mean the company will avoid being proactive on explicit material.
“Rather than implement this change, we’ve decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn,” the post explained.
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