Sex and Censorship by Google

Google has now created a new standard for free speech on the Internet. I realized that when I received the email from them below. It now seems to be, "Free speech is free so long as the news or opinion cannot offend someone. " The corollary to it now appears to be "subjects dealing with sexual matters are offensive because they deal with sex." 

In Google's case, they didn't like my picture or my blog posting because they claimed it might have sexual overtones on a page that also displays contains Google ads. I'm surprised actually, given that their standard clearly suggests any story or posting that reports on anything someone might consider offensive simply because is contains the dreaded and much feared word, "sex."

I can hear the men and women at Google now.

"This blog post must be banned because the blog post has the word 'sex' in it!"

Cooler heads might point out that since a Google Bot generated the email and no human  was involved, that it's clearly a case of using the wrong key words in the title.

I have gone back and taken out the dreaded words, "sex robots." Evidently, those two words appeal to the prurient interests of the Google bots. I guess when you are dealing with bots, one should not really be surprised.

Google has every right to decide whether it displays its ads on my blog. It's a basic right of ownership that is so easily discarded in the US today. 

What it means is that they get to decide what you write about or they will drop you for not being out of their mold. So be it. I have nearly 6000 posts on this blog. I suspect there are a number of them that have topics that might offend the bots at Google. Unfortunately, I guess I'm just not smart enough to try and figure out how a news story is offensive, particularly when one has the choice whether to view it or not.

The message from Google:

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Hello,

During a recent review of your account we found that you are currently displaying Google ads in a manner that is not compliant with our program policies (https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=48182&stc=aspe-1pp-en).

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EXAMPLE PAGE:
http://rofasix.blogspot.com/2010/01/sex-robots-for-sale.html?m=1

Please note that this URL is an example and that the same violations may exist on other pages of this website or other sites in your network.

VIOLATION(S) FOUND:

ADULT/SEXUAL AIDS and FETISHES: As stated in our program policies, AdSense publishers are not permitted to place Google ads on pages with adult or mature content. This includes any content that is sexual in intent or may not be considered family-safe, such as sexual aids, devices and fetishes.
More information about this policy can be found in our help center

(https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=105957).

REQUESTED ACTION: Please make all necessary changes in the next 72 hours.

If the violations are corrected within the aforementioned time period, ad serving will not be affected. If changes are not made and/or other policy violations are encountered during the review process, ad serving will be disabled to your site.

ACCOUNT STATUS: ACTIVE

Your AdSense account remains active. However, if we continue to find problems, we may disable your entire account. Therefore, we suggest that you take the time to review the rest of your network to ensure that all of your other pages are in compliance with our policies.


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Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team
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For more information regarding this email, please visit our Help Center:
https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?answer=113058&stc=aspe-ai4-en.