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Google, Inc. has changed its policy regarding pornography and this week is formally informing its advertising partners of the change.
Google is saying any ads peddling adult entertainment will not appear on its advertising networks.
No more "sexually explicit content," they say.
What do they consider "sexually explicit" and why the change of heart and mind?
Google has posted a set of guidelines on what advertisers cannot promote, which includes "graphic depictions of sexual acts; content with underage or non-consensual sexual themes, including child sexual abuse content; and services that may be interpreted as providing sexual acts in exchange for compensation."
Google says going forward they "won't allow this content regardless of whether it meets applicable legal restrictions around this kind of content."
Why the change of mind"
Google had more than 350 million searches for the words sex, porn, free porn and porno in the month of May and "porn" is one of the most common searches on their engine.
For the past 2 years---2013 and 2014, the organization Morality in Media has publicly listed Google on their "Dirty Dozen List" because of their involvement in and profit from pornography in Google Play, Google Ads, YouTube and more.
In May, Morality in Media had a meeting with Google executives to explain how pornography harms children, families and individuals.
At the time, Morality in Media said they felt it was a "productive meeting."
Obviously it was.
There is significant support for the moral implications of Google's decision. I'll come back to that in a moment, however, there is also a new study published in the highly respected Journal of American Medicine Association (JAMA) Psychiatry which confirms previous studies and discovers new behavioral links.
In May, Reuters News reported that the JAMA study found that "men who report watching a lot of pornography tend to have less volume and activity in regions of the brain linked to rewards and motivation."
They say these results "provide the first medical evidence for a link between pornography consumption and reductions in brain size and brain activity in response to sexual stimuli."
While JAMA says the study is not medically conclusive, it is far more revealing than any previous studies.
Some of the study's conclusions found the following in people who watch significant amounts of porn:
- Brain area affecting motivation and reward is smaller.
- Function in actual sexual relations impaired.
- Behavior and decision making worsens with increased pornography consumption.
The moral consequences of consuming pornography is significant and much has been written about it.
Even the far left Harvard University newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, published an op-ed suggesting porn is morally harmful.
Dr. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the largest seminary in the world, says, "The scourge of pornography has brought ruin and harm into the lives of millions of our friends and neighbors, destroying marriages, distorting sexuality and poisoning minds."
Mohler says pornography also has a profound influence on a person's worldview, which includes how you feel about same-sex "marriage."
His comments are based on several studies that support that suggestion. I strongly recommend you read his article.
One of the several studies he references is one conducted by Paul J. Wright of Indiana University and Ashley K. Randall of the University of Arizona in which they point out that the influence of pornography exposure by heterosexual males lead to an increased support for same-sex "marriage."
Wright and Randall say the exposure to porn "activates a sexually 'liberal' mind set." This mind set "embraces non-judgement toward and even approval of non traditional sexual behavior."
Dr. Mohler says, "Put bluntly, our worldview is shaped by what we allow to enter our minds."
I commend Google for this step in the right direction.
But ultimately this is a personal decision that every individual, every parent and every Christian must make.
While Paul did not have a concept of the Internet, he understood the power of evil on our minds when he wrote to the Romans (12:2), "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."
The Proverbs instruct us with this: "More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it." Pr. 4:23 (CEB) And v.25 says, "Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you."
David, a man who himself failed morally, wrote of his personal resolve to guard his eyes: "I will set no worthless thing before my eyes..."
Pornography is addictive. God is willing and able to deliver and restore an individual from addictions---any addictions, including porn.
Google is doing the right thing. I hope and pray each of us will as well.
Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Informed. Be Pro-Active. Be Blessed.