Negative Blogspot Post Removal
Many a times, you will come across blog posts on Google’s very own content creation and blogging platform, Blogger. It is the simplest means by which one gets to share their thoughts with the world. Plus, as it is a Google platform, AdSense and other such programs also come handy. Clearly, Blogger remains one of the most popular blogging tools in the world. What has really added to its popularity is that it is absolutely free to use and has a very simple interface. Therefore, more people get a chance to portray their thoughts.
How to Get Negative Blog Posts Removed from Blogspot and Deleted from Search Results
However, quantity is sometimes the biggest deterioration of quality. Google does not act as a content moderator on Blogspot. In fact, with such a huge number of blogs, it becomes more or less impossible for the platform to scan through every post possible and moderate it. It requires more human effort than software and therefore, it is the most difficult task to moderate the content. However, if you, as a user find any kind of harmful, obscene, offensive or invasive, you can use the Report Abuse tool and let Google know about it. However, you must be aware of the Terms of Service and the Content Policies at Google before getting to report abuse any post or profile.
You must keep in mind that if there is a satire or a political commentary or even a case where some imagery appears distasteful, Google will not be liable to remove the content without the prior permission of the judiciary or without legal notice. Therefore, before you indulge in any such activity, make sure that you are aware of the rules and regulations regarding it. Time and again, Google has proved to be a proactive company that takes notice of all the customer demands and reporting abuse is one of such cases where Google reacts almost immediately.
Whenever the post or profile of someone has been removed by the company, the owner will be notified about the same via email. It is also possible that a content advisory is placed before the blog is accessed so that the readers can become aware of the situation as well.
7 Ways to Get Google to Delete a Post published on Blogspot
There are various types of report abuses or violation of terms or service. They have been divided into 7 categories, which are mentioned below.
1. Cite Legal Issues
This is probably the most serious type of violation that may come across for any of the content creation platforms. Most of the legal issues are centered on copyright infringements.
Whenever you click on any of the report abuse terms, you will be asked to notify which of the Google products or services you have suspected. When you chose Blogspot, you will be asked to check which one of the conditions applies to you. The issues may contain the infringement on someone’s copyright, malware or phishing cases, the cases related to content containing defamatory material (it must be supported by a legal notice) and might contain issues related to sale of counterfeit goods as well.
Therefore, you have to be really careful in these cases. A copy of your application will be sent as a legal notice to the owner of admin of the blog and you also give Google total rights to get the application published in their Transparency report as well as the Chilling Effects Project.
Before you hit proceed, remember that claims need to be supported by evidence.
2. Use of Hate Speech, Violent or Crude Content
This is a disputed area, where individual tastes collide with the freedom of speech and expression. Blogger does not really have the right to remove any content because it has a negative outlook towards a person or an organization or if the presentation is not tasteful.
However, if you find that the blog is really beyond self expression and goes into the depths of negativity and criticism, then you can submit the URL of the blog to Google. Though there is no provision for legal notices, Google will take the appropriate steps on reviewing the blog content.
3. Bullying or Harassment Issues
Again the freedom of expression collides with individual tastes. However, bullying or harassment is strictly not allowed on a blog. If you find that any person in the blogging universe is trying to attack you with his speech and comments then you have the right to submit that post URL to Google and the company will take care of the matter on its own.
4. Malware, Spam and Phishing
There are many reasons why such blogs make for a worthless read. They do not have any real content and are simply meant to waste your time. Moreover, such kinds of blogs are normally stuffed with keywords and links that are of no use to the customer. If you click on one link, you will again pass through the same process of clicking on several different links and so on. They are certainly not worth anything, but they may get very irritating.
Phishing is the case where a link, message or any other webpage tries to trick you into buying something or prompt you in such a way that you reveal the credit card number or any other such financial information to the attacker. This is clearly the most dangerous of them all and you lose a lot of money in this way.
The final kind of attack is from malware. These are messages; links or small programs that will hack into your account and send spam messages or make multiple pages on your blog that may indulge in phishing activities in your name. Therefore, you must be careful about them as well.
If, in any case, you find that a blog or a post is indulging in any of these activities, you would simply have to provide the URL of the blog to Google. There are no chances that Google will reply to your application individually, but you can be sure that once the blog has been submitted, the company will take notice, review the blog and take the necessary steps.
5. Nudity or Adult Content
The Blogger Content Policies an Google Terms of Service allows the users to write or post any sort of adult content on the platform. There are no restrictions whatsoever on nudity. The authors or admins of the blog also get a chance to show a warning on their blog. Therefore, if you get the URL of the blog, you will be directed to a page that contains warning to adult content. You will only be redirected when you wish to proceed. However, this is an optional step for authors. In other cases, if you feel that the blog is presenting nudity in extremes or is getting distasteful, then you can flag the content and it will automatically be reported to Google. You will again have to report the URL of the inappropriate blog post to Google and the company would then review the content.
Remember, that even if Google allows adult content, it is strictly against Child Sexual Abuse. These types of cases are to be reported immediately. Google will delete the blog immediately and report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as well.
6. Personal Information Disclosure
If somebody is posting information about you, like your personal information, your credit card number, your social security number, your address or your phone number, other than that has been listed for public viewing on your profile, you must report it to Google immediately.
Remember, that this does not apply to the information you have shared on your profile and opened for public viewing. You must, in all cases, protect your personal information online. In any circumstances that someone else is using your private information on the net, you can tell Google about the URL of the blog as well as the information that has been posted about you. This would lead to quick remediation.
7. Impersonation Issues
If somebody is using your identity, real pictures etc to make a fake account or profile on Google, then too you can report to the company. If the profile has been made for parody or satire, then the company would not have any rights to review or delete the account. However, you can report any other incidences to the company and they will take care of the matter.
Don’t forget that attaching a scanned copy of your valid ID is essential in this case.
Conclusion
Google’s Terms of Service have been formulated in such a way that the right to expression and the freedom of speech are not hampered. On the other end, the company is also very serious about grave issues like theft of identity or phishing and copyright infringement. As a user, it is always better to report the issues to Google as soon as you come across them on Blogspot. As a free platform with millions of webpages, it is literally a herculean task for the company to moderate each and every post. Therefore, you can act as a virtual moderator and help Google in maintaining Blogspot as a free expression medium rather than a disdainful or distasteful medium of expression of negative thoughts.
You must make sure that as a responsible person and user, you always help the company in its pursuit of providing great products and services to the users and provide only great content. If any content or a blog has been deleted, the author and the readers will be notified with a copy of the legal notice, so that they may become aware of the situation and safeguard themselves against any such unpleasant situations in the future.
