Munich - Yahoo has relaxed some of the restrictions on photo swapping on the German-language version of its Flickr online photo-posting site, but denied Thursday it had practised censorship. To meet laws on protecting children and young people, Flickr requires that users worldwide identify sexually explicit images, rating all photos as either safe, moderate or restricted.
Yahoo said it would in future allow Germans to exchange middle-grade pictures. Flickr defines these as ones where a user would be "not sure" they could be shown to children.
Flickr, a hugely popular site where 4 million registered members can view one another's snaps, began its German-language version a week ago.
It said it would continue to ban publication in Germany of restricted-grade pictures, which could only be uploaded for the Flickr customer's personal use.
However Yahoo, which bought Flickr in 2005, would study ways to check users' ages so that an adult community could be set up. It said the restrictions reflected German laws on protecting young people.
Bloggers in Germany, where nudity and sexual activity often appears in TV commercials and on advertising hoardings, had accused the company of censoring users.
