Reddit has joined Google in prohibiting nude content under certain circumstances in a move that is likely to have far-reaching implications for the internet and social media industry. The prohibition will affect the 160 million users of Reddit and users of Google's Blogger services.
Reddit said it would not allow photos, videos and links with explicit nude content if the person in that particular image, video or link has not consented to that digital content being posted online Google said it would disallow the posting of nude photos and videos on blogs that are a part of its Blogger services, reported the South China Morning Post..
This new direction of the policy for banning nudity on these services is a radical change from the current position of most internet companies. The default policy in this industry has really been to say that the actual users of the websites are responsible for the content that they upload or share on it. That the internet companies only provide a technical platform for other people to use and share as the latter deem fit. The extent of the bans thus far extended solely to child pornography or spam.
This default approach has meant that a significant amount of nude and explicit content is daily uploaded to these websites. The problem with this approach is that often a lot of this kind of content is put online without obtaining the consent of the people that feature in the explicit digital material, ABC News has reported.
In recent months several celebrities have had to endure very embarrassing and painful experiences as a consequence of the lax nudity policies of certain social media websites/services. Jennifer Lawrence had a run-in with these companies for allowing them to host stolen/hacked nude images of her. Indeed, Lawrence was so disgusted with these websites that she even likened what was done her as a "sex-crime."