Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Big Brother is Watching

You may have noticed that this blog now contains the adult interstitial that warns you about the contents of this blog. That's a precaution I decided to take after Google's latest announcement that they will no longer allow sexually explicit or nude photos on Blogger blogs. I don't think I have any of those, except for a few bare bottoms here and there, but no sense taking chances.

If you are concerned about the safety of your Blogger blog, then go to Picasa, the place where all your Blogger photos are stored: https://picasaweb.google.com/home?redirect=0

If you see any photos with full frontal nudity or depicting sexual activity, delete them or move them to a private album.

The announcement above only talks about pictures. I don't know whether sexually explicit text would also be targeted. I also don't know whether having blogs on your blogroll that have explicit photos would cause your blog to be penalized. If or when I find out,  I will let you know. To be safe, I may decide to remove some of the more graphic blogs from my blogroll. I hope those blog owners will not take offense at this. It's nothing personal.

So what's the penalty for having a sexually explicit blog? Starting March 23, Blogger will make your blog private, available only to you, your other admins and authors, and invited readers (up to 100). They will not delete your blog. When you remove all offending material, you can ask for a review.

That's all I know for now. I hope this will not decimate our blogging community.

From Hermione's Heart

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hermoine,
What bothers me is that sexual explicit is also a validation of whom? Who decides and based on what is something sexual explicit. Picasso was sexually explicit. Many well known artists have made very graphic sexual explicit art. And that is ok? Simply because it has a tag 'art'.
It got me growling….
love
ara

Roz said...

Hi Hermoine, thank you for sharing this information and for the tips.

I'm fairly sure my blog should be ok, but the problem is of course, what does Google define as sexually explicit? No one knows.

Hugs
Roz

Minielle Labraun said...

I wonder if drawings are included?

Dora said...

They did this about ten years ago also. I moved to WordPress.

Hermione said...

ara - Blogs that show nudity in an artistic format (like Picasso etc) will not be made private, but they will need to have the Adult interstitial.

Roz - I think your blog is okay too. Sexually explicit means intercourse, full frontal nudity.

Minelle - Probably, if they are explicit.

Dora - Welcome! That was before my time. I guess every 10 years they do a purge:)

Hugs,
Hermione

stay at home mom said...

Hi Hermione, thank you for telling us. I have taken the adult content warning away and written my own disclaimer. Some of my texts are probably sexually explicit, but apart from one single nipple seen from the side, the pictures shouldn't be a problem, because there are only very few selected naked bums visible. :)

Maybe we should simply replace the tag 'sex' with the tag 'art'?

I think everybody in blogland would like to know what sexually explicit includes for google/Blogger.

I'll try to back up everything, just in case. Thank you for keeping us informed on this, Hermione.

hugs

Nina

ronnie said...

Really do appreciate you keeping us informed Hermione. You really are a star.

I will back up my blog (or get P to:)) and I am considering moving to Wordpress. Just not sure.

Love,
Ronnie
xx

Hermione said...

Nina and Ronnie - to back up your blog, go to Settings, Other, Export Blog. Choose a spot to save the file then click Download Blog. It only takes a second or two. Then Close the window.

Hugs,
Hermione

stay at home mom said...

Thank you Hermione, I would have needed ages until I'd have maybe figured that out... always being afraid that suddenly my blog vanishes for good. :)

hugs

Nina

Aimless Rambling said...

If they delete mine, I'm in trouble - it's tame, but then I think most of the ones I see every day are just as tame, I don't know what's the big deal.

Erica said...

I have already moved to Wordpress, as you saw, Hermione. I am going to clean out the photos in my old blog, so they won't make it private. My interpretation was that even past nude photos anywhere in your blog would get you targeted for private label.

Storm said...

Oh you are so totally awesome--I didn't even know that photo album existed! Thought I was going to have to go through my entire blog looking for pictures...

Thank you!

Hermione said...

Nina - You're welcome. But you really should put back your Adult content warning.

Leigh - If they thought your blog was porn (which it's not) they would set it to private, not delete it.

Erica - Yes, you're right, so best to remove them.

lil - It was my pleasure.

Hugs,
Hermione

ronnie said...

Thanks for that Hermione,

Love,
Ronnie
xx

stay at home mom said...

I put the adult content warning back on, just in case. Thank you. :)

hugs

Nina

A. Lurker said...

Hi Hermione,
Just an aside but I wonder if the Google people who decided all this were part of the "I am Charlie" crowd a few weeks ago?

And yet islamic extremists can still use google products to radicalize our citizens to blow up our malls?

Makes you wonder!
R.

spankedbywife said...

Hermione-
Thanks for bringing this subject up. Its great to see our little community discuss such things and what actions might be taken.

I jumped onto the Google forum and found that the Google reps there were just as confused as we all seem to be. One thing I saw is that the restrictions seem only to apply to photos and videos. Text seems to be safe from what I saw.

However no one was able to answer questions about what is allowed and what is not allowed. Seems this was dictated from the powers in charge with no details. The answers seemed to be 'don't worry about it', and 'we don't know'.

I received a direct reply from one of the reps but it included words to the effect that there would be 'no guarantee' that our blog might not be labeled as private. And there are only a few (very few) photos of my bare bottom getting spanked by my lovely wife.

Again, thanks!
Ken (SpankedbymyLady blog)

Cat said...

Hey Hermione...I'm just wondering who is going to decide what is considered sexually explicit and if it will be consistent. The only people that received this notice are those that have the 'Adult content warning' turned on. I turned mine off a while back so I didn't receive the notice this time around. I do have a 'adult content warning' at the top of my blog. Blogger doesn't have the resources to 'police' everyone so I think they will 'spot check' those with the flag on. Of course, that's just my opinion which along with $1 will get ya a cheap cup of coffee. ;)

Hugs and Blessings...
Cat

Unknown said...

Hi Everyone

Lady M has created a new blog environment based on Word Press, but it is free to post what ever you like. I have a skeleton site set up at Doingthebesthecan.fetblogger.com.

You can go to fetblogger.com and get in contact with Lady M. Still in early days but it will take you beyond Google. DtBHC.

Hermione said...

A. Lurker - I don't think it has anything to do with Islamic extremists. Google is trying to bring Blogger's guidelines in line with YouTube's.

Ken - Ye,s I saw your discussion there,and you are correct. The forum guides and TCs don't know anything specific, except that it is only about images, not text. The powers that be have not been specific in any other way.

Cat - Those blogs with the adult interstitial received the email, but everyone has the notification at the top of the dashboard.

I agree, they will probably spot check the adult blogs first, but they also warned that if you have adult content, but no warning, they will put the warning on for you. Who knows when and how they will examine all blogs.

DtBHC - Thanks for the info. The only snag is, it's quite possible that WordPress will start enforcing the same type of rules sometime in the future. And WordPress is, IMHO, not as easy or intuitive as Blogger.

Hugs,
Hermione

Lea said...

I had no idea there was an entire photo album of everything I've ever posted to my blog. There were some potentially identifiable photos in there! Glad I deleted those!

Hermione said...

Lea, I'm glad I could be of hep to you.

Hugs,
Hermione