Considered to be among the top photo sharing websites, Flickr is coming under attack for some of the images it displays, which according to some observers, go against the "no porn" rules of parent company Yahoo!
Yahoo!'s terms of service (TOS) state that users agree not to use its Services to… "upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable."
According to gadget news site Electricpig.co.uk, it was alerted to the adult content on Flickr after a reader "searched innocent-sounding body parts to create a home-made birthday card, and was surprised when innocuous searches, such as 'feet' and 'mouth,' brought back full frontal nudity and graphic close ups of genitalia, even with Flickr's SafeSearch feature enabled."
No mention was made of the copyright issues surrounding the card-maker's photo quest, but his salacious claims led to an investigation of the allegedly "obscene" materials on Flickr and the apparent inadequacy of its SafeSearch feature, which is intended to prevent the display of this material.
Nude photos, along with groups that share them, are easier to find on Flickr than you might think, the Electricpig investigation concluded, despite any measures that are being taken to prevent this from happening.
"Yahoo! has a number of measures in place to make sure that using our hugely popular Flickr service is a safe and fun experience for everybody," stated a Yahoo! spokesperson. "When you first sign up for Flickr, the SafeSearch function is turned on. This protects you from Restricted images on Flickr. You can only get access to Restricted images if you're over 18."
"SafeSearch works by checking the flags that users add to their photos — 'Safe', 'Moderate' and 'Restricted,'" the spokesperson added. "With over four billion images uploaded to Flickr by our community, there may still be pictures you feel are inappropriate. To report them, you can click the 'Report Abuse' link, which can be found at the bottom of every Flickr page. The queue is manned 24/7 and every request will be assessed."
While it's unlikely that the masses are turning to Flickr for their porn fix, it's clear that the venues for dissemination of digital erotica are broader than their historical confines to the adult Internet and this trend undoubtedly chips away at industry profitability.