Reddit Bans ‘Involuntary Pornography’ on Heels of Google’s Blogger Crackdown

“If a photograph, video, or digital image of you in a state of nudity, sexual excitement, or engaged in any act of sexual conduct, is posted or linked to on reddit without your permission, it is prohibited on reddit”

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Reddit will soon prohibit “involuntary pornography” and “violent personalized images” from existing on the website, according to an updated privacy policy set to go into effect on Mar. 10, 2015. This comes just a day after Google’s Blogger announced plans to make blogs with sexually explicit content private and inaccessible to the public.

“No matter who you are, if a photograph, video, or digital image of you in a state of nudity, sexual excitement, or engaged in any act of sexual conduct, is posted or linked to on reddit without your permission, it is prohibited on reddit,” a spokesperson for Reddit said in a statement to TheWrap.

“We also recognize that violent personalized images are a form of harassment that we do not tolerate and we will remove them when notified,” the statement continued.

Reddit also admitted it had missed an opportunity last year to take a stand against involuntary pornography, likely referring to the wave of stolen nude celebrity photos that popped up across Reddit and the rest of the Internet in late August. The victims of that hack included stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Kaley Cuoco.

“Last year, we missed a chance to be a leader in social media when it comes to protecting your privacy — something we’ve cared deeply about since Reddit’s inception. At our recent all hands company meeting, this was something that we all, as a company, decided we needed to address,” the statement read.

The San Francisco-based online community, news site and social networking platform also plans to reveal precisely how many instances of involuntary pornography it takes down in its yearly privacy report.

“We’re learning together as we go, and today’s changes are going to help grow Reddit for the next 10 years and beyond. We’re so grateful and excited to have you join us on this journey,” the statement finished.

Meanwhile, Google’s Blogger, one of the internet’s oldest and most popular blog-publishing services, has adjusted its policy on all forms of pornography, involuntary or otherwise.

Under the new set of rules, going into effect in March, explicit blog content can only be accessed by the blog’s owner, administrators and those who have had the blog shared with them.

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