Blogger is a popular, and free, blogging platform owned by Google. It was one of the few platforms that were used for hosting sexually explicit content since Google didn’t stop users from doing so, Tumblr is another popular venue for such content, but now Google is changing its position. Starting next month the company will no longer allow sexually explicit content on websites that are hosted on Blogger.
Google has updated a support page for Blogger which now reads that “starting March 23, 2015, you won’t be able to publicly share images and video that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity on Blogger.”
According to reports Blogger users were sent emails that notified them of this change. Google is not going to delete websites that host such content when the deadline arrives next month however after March 23rd all of those websites will be made private.
Those who want to make their websites public again will first have to delete content that Google will no longer allow on Blogger. The company does point out any new blogs created after March 23rd may automatically be deleted should they not adhere to this rule.
Google also makes a clarification: “We’ll still allow nudity if the content offers a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts.”
The company itself will be the judge of that.