Flickr Blocks Restricted Content (for Indian IPs) – Some perspective
Flickr has restricted Indian IPs for default safesearch, and that means surfing for porn (restricted content) may result in Flickr blocking certain content (i.e. content rated moderate or restricted).
If your Yahoo! ID is based in Singapore, Hong Kong, India or Korea you will only be able to view safe content based on your local Terms of Service (this means you won’t be able to turn SafeSearch off). – Flickr help
Fret about this?
Heated debate going on at this Flickr forum and expect some backlash from Indian users, especially in a site where the definition of porn vs. art crosses a thin line (after all, it’s all relative).
Yahoo image search - default safesearch
But before you fret, do you know that Yahoo image search doesn’t allow one to change their safesearch option (its disabled)?
And this (i.e yahoo image case) ain’t anything new (it has existed for quite sometime). I believe here is this is a yahoo wide decision to disable safe search option (flip it and you will see all porn), as the country law makes is too hazy for porn material (case in point: Savita Bhabhi blcked, also read:IT Act Amendment Bill – Publishing Obscene Material Punishable ); and Flickr update is just an implementation of this decision.
Share your opinion, especially if you are a Flickr fanboy(or girl).
And FYI – be aware of the fact that Bing has banned porn queries in India.
-
Related posts:
Flickr/Yahoo is using it’s usual excuse of “We follow the national laws for all our localized networks”. If the Indian government has banned “restricted content” (mostly porn, but some artistic nudes) then Yahoo must follow suit in order to not get cut off entirely from that huge market.
Evidently there is a workaround for people in India, since it’s not the IP address that is checked by Flickr/Yahoo, but the primary email address. If the Yahoo/Flickr user changes their Yahoo ID from name@yahoo.co.in to name@yahoo.com then they will still be able to see restricted content.
Yahoo’s decision is not one I approve of (I’d rather they stood up to the lawmakers and made a stand for freedom of expression) but it’s understandable given its history of pandering to hard-line/anti-freedom regimes.
Maybe some of the Indian surfers will go elsewhere for their porn in future. The India-based providers of non-pornographic erotica will most likely have to take take their business elsewhere.
[...] the Safe Search option permanently on for Indian users for its photo sharing site Flickr, wrote Pluggd.in. Yahoo is thus significantly restricting the way its users access the its service, hypocritically, [...]