Google Backs Down, Won’t Ban Adult Images on Blogger

Well that was fast. It was only 3 days ago that Google announced that they were going to ban adult images from its blogging platform, and now the ad network has reversed the policy:

This week, we announced a change to Blogger’s porn policy. We’ve had a ton of feedback, in particular about the introduction of a retroactive change (some people have had accounts for 10+ years), but also about the negative impact on individuals who post sexually explicit content to express their identities. So rather than implement this change, we’ve decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn.

I think Google just got a lesson in the difference between what is legal and what is socially acceptable.

Google might have every right to ban certain types of content, but the community which has grown on Blogger over the past 10 years opposed the idea, and there was enough opposition that they forced Google to reconsider.

TBH, I’m surprised that was effective. Google often resembles a faceless monolith, and on the occasion that you discover there’s a real person behind the white wall it comes as a shock.

image by Mike Licht