A lot of my regular reads use Blogger. I have always eschewed it, just as I don’t use a WordPress hosted site for this place. Hosting it myself means I don’t have problems such as this.
Google has warned users of its Blogger platform that blogs containing sexually explicit images and videos will be made private on 23 March.
None of the blogs will be deleted, but they will no longer be publicly visible, the tech giant says.
People currently posting adult content are advised to either remove it or make their blogs private themselves.
Google will do this even if the author doesn’t agree. Now, their gaff, their rules apply. Which is why I avoid them like the proverbial plague. I won’t have Google or WordPress or any other prurient organisation deciding whether my content is okay for he public to see or not. I write it, I decide and they can go fuck themselves.
Critics have dismissed Google’s move as an unnecessary form of censorship.
“Adult content has historically been at the forefront of fighting for free speech and political dissent, and this won’t be changing anytime soon,” wrote journalist and sex columnist Violet Blue on ZDNet.
“Sexual and erotic expression is protected speech, and pornography is not illegal.”
Precisely. With friends like Google and Yahoo, who needs enemies?
Update: They’ve backed down.
I don’t understand why they think this is necessary as there is already a facility to bring up a warning if the blog contains adult content so you have to click to proceed after confirming you are 18 years old.
I’d be fascinated to see what they consider to be ‘adult’. One man’s porn is another man’s glamour after all. Maybe it’s just that I say ‘fuck’ a lot.
Interestingly, even though I use Blogger, this was news to me. Nobody has warned me about it…
I’ve considered moving the blog to WordPress and have already set up a proto-site so I can port across at any time. I prefer the features you get for free on Blogger but the filtering out of idiots is better on WordPress.
That would do it. It’s run by Yanks and they can be a prissy lot. I like to have control. Not just in this context but also when managing disruptive elements. A self-hosted WordPress site gives me that control.
I use blogger and it was news to me to, but as I don’t post sexually explicit content, it doesn’t effect me.
I do think however it’s a bit daft as there is the 18 warning.
I wonder if this means many of the artists who us blogger will be censored.
My understanding of the thing I read today is it will only be made private to the general public, people in your circles will still be able to see all content.”No content will be deleted, but private content can only be seen by the owner or admins of the blog and the people who the owner has shared the blog with.” So only censored to strangers who don’t know for the most part a blog exists. It is typical yank priggishness, and given the state of their “Democracy” it’s no wonder they are in a worse mess than us here in the UK.
Even O2, are in on it, Dioclese, you blog for instance is blocked by O2 unless you can prove your age with a credit card no less!
“I use blogger and it was news to me to, but as I don’t post sexually explicit content, it doesn’t effect me.”
It doesn’t affect me either, plus it’s easy to use and all in all, I like Google, they do the cool maps and gmail and stuff.
If you are happy with the lack of control over your content, fine. However, it should be the author, not Google that decides whether a blog is private or not. Given their control freakery, I prefer to leave well alone. Also, as I mentioned, when it comes to managing trolls and stalkers, a self-hosted WordPress site has more control – not least access to the logs if it is necessary to take matters further.
I have no interest in their maps or Gmail. I use mapquest and I have my own POP Three domain mail. Again, I prefer to be in control.
Google have now done a U turn on this policy https://uk.news.yahoo.com/google-u-turn-blogger-porn-ban-030147120.html#Bl0rPLV