In a reversal, Google says that porn will continue to be allowed on its Blogger site.
Google (GOOGL) said it has received a big backlash after deciding earlier in the week that bloggers will no longer be able to "publicly share images and video that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity." The ban was to have taken place on March 23.
Instead, Google said that the company would simply double down on its crackdown of bloggers who use their sites to sell porn.
In July, Google stopped porn from appearing in its online ads that appear on Blogger. And in 2013, Google decided to remove blogs from its Blogger network that contained advertisements for online porn sites.
"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," wrote Jessica Pelegio, Google's social product support manager, in a post on Google product forums. "So rather than implement this change, we've decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn."
Google said blog owners who continue to host adult content should continue to mark their blogs as "adult." Visitors to those Blogger sites will see an "adult content" warning before they can enter.
The company said it was never its intention to completely ban nudity from Blogger.
Even under its now defunct "graphic nudity" ban, Google said it would have allowed nudity "if the content offers a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts."
But that would have put Google in the position of deciding what is art and what is pornography -- a decision that Instagram and other sites have struggled with.
It's unclear how many sites would have been affected by the new rules. A spokeswoman for Google declined to comment.
