In fact, one should think that in the 21st century society is enlightened and open. But just the opposite seems to be the case. Where the internet opens the world to all possibilities to us, it will also be regulated and banned again, which isn’t favored; and eroticism is always at the top of the list of things that should not be accessible.
Without question, pornography is intended for adults and should not be shown to children. This can be ensured with programs or apps and thus there is no problem. However, in many countries, this is different for the government and ensures that companies take measures to banish pornography and others from the Internet. Now Microsoft also uses porn and hate filters!
Whether Xbox Live, Cortana, Bing or Skype and the cloud offerings: Microsoft is now looking closely and wants to ban insults as well as violence and pornography from all their offerings. In May they will release new Terms of Use prohibiting offensive content. Microsoft also grants the right to review users’ content in order to act on violations. If the user does not comply with the new terms and conditions, his user account can be terminated.
It is likely that a number of automatic filters will be used to verify compliance with the new terms of use. This raises above all the question of how to proceed, for example, in Skype calls and video calls. Does Microsoft hear there or are only written conversations scanned? Will the hot love letter of the friend then no longer be archived on the cloud storage? There are many more unanswered questions for which there are no answers yet, as formulations are very vague.
It can be assumed that this approach by Microsoft is a preventive reaction to a law decision. According to the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017”, operators of online platforms should be able to be prosecuted when advertising their services for sex or violence. Google has also been active and has removed content from cloud storage users that were “sexually explicit”. No one can predict where that can lead. However, some see freedom of expression endangered by such measures.
