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29 March 2024

Google to stay X-rated after blogger outburst

Police discovered files from accused's phone. (Shutterstock)

Published
By Agencies

Actually, it is OK to post nudes on Google's Blogger service.

Google is backing off a Tuesday announcement to ban sexually explicit material on public Blogger sites. The company said Friday that there was an outcry from people incensed about the censorship of their nude photos.

Mountain View, California-based Google had warned that Blogger users had until March 23 to remove most nude pictures or their site would be switched to private mode — only available to the authors and invited viewers.

Google's initial ban was made on the same day that Reddit, a social forum and news site, had said it would remove photos, videos and links with explicit content if the person pictured hadn't given permission for the post.

In a post Friday, Blogger said it changed its mind after getting a "ton of feedback" from longtime users who thought it was unfair to suddenly change the policy. The company was also swayed by users who considered the sexually explicit content to be part of their identities.

Blogger will instead "step up enforcement" of its existing policy against commercial porn.

Sexually explicit content on Blogger will still be marked by an "adult content" warning.