A German expansion of Yahoo Inc's online photo-sharing service Flickr has been less than picture-perfect.
In the latest outcry against Yahoo's practices outside the US, Flickr is fending off censorship complaints because it is preventing users in Germany from viewing many of the images posted on its Web site.
The limitations, imposed earlier this week when Flickr launched a German-language version of its service, have provoked indignant online protests that apparently caught management off guard.
"We're all getting really uncomfortable that the words `flickr' and `censorship' are being jammed together with increasing frequency because that is so far from the direction we're trying to move in," Heather Champ, Flickr's community manager, wrote in a note posted on Thursday evening on the photo service's blog.
Flickr has previously encountered similar criticism when some of its photos were blocked in the United Arab Emirates and China.
The problems in Germany -- reported earlier by citizen journalism Web site NowPublic.com -- revolve around controls enabling Flickr's users to identify photos that should not be viewed by children or other people who might be offended by the images.
The "SafeSearch" function can usually be turned off by users interested in seeing all the photos available on Flickr, but that option is not being offered in Germany.
"In other words, German users can't access photos on Flickr that are not flagged `safe,'" wrote one user in an online forum. "Only flowers and landscapes for the Germans."
Yahoo said Flickr's restrictions adhere to German laws requiring Web sites to verify that visitors are old enough to see potentially sensitive content. In her posting, Champ indicated Flickr decided to proceed cautiously instead of exposing Yahoo's employees in Germany to possible jail time for breaking the age-restriction laws.
"We should have handled this differently, and have been exploring many possible approaches which would allow us to do what makes sense while still operating inside the law," Yahoo said in a statement released on Friday.
Yahoo, which bought Flickr in 2005, has periodically faced accusations of censorship as it expanded into countries run by governments that stifle free speech. Yahoo has been criticized for blocking access to some of its content and turning over e-mail information that helped China's government convict dissidents. Two of the dissidents are suing Yahoo for its role in their convictions.
The California-based company has consistently said it is just complying with the law wherever it operates, even if management does not necessarily agree with the law.
That attitude inspired a Yahoo shareholder to propose changes that that would have management fight more aggressively against all forms of Internet censorship. The proposal was rejected by wide margin at Yahoo's annual meeting earlier this week.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
RSS