Aspiring Author K. Renee was reportedly locked out of her own content on Google Docs after Google flagged it as “inappropriate.”
As reported byWired, Renee is an author who writes about Hockey romance and has saved over 222,000 words across multiple files and folders onGoogleDocs. However, Google barred her from sharing her own content.
“You cannot share this item because it has been flagged as inappropriate,” read a pop-up when she tried to share her work. Those who already had access to Renee’s work on Google Docs were told “You no longer have permission to view this document. If you believe this is an error, contact the document owner,” through a pop-up message.
Renee describes her work to Wired as “open-door spice” meaning it’s explicit or “spicy”. Google mentions that files containing violence, abuse, CSAM, and gore violate theterms of servicefor Google Drive and its associated products, like Docs and Sheets. However, exceptions are made, for educational, artistic, and journalistic purposes.
Since Renee’s work is for artistic purposes, it shouldn’t technically go against Google’s guidelines. Wired also reports that Renee is not alone in getting blocked from sharing her work.
Fantasy Romance author Courtney Whimsshared on their Instagramthat Google Docs blocked them as well. Whims said her content is explicit, but Google blocked them after concluding that they were spamming people (which Whims claims they were not, according to anInstagramreel).
ManyGoogle Docsusers, including aformer National Geographic editor, claimed they were not able to access their Google Docs, even though their content did not violate Google’s policies. However, Google later clarified in a statement toMashablethat these lockouts were made in error. It remains unclear if authors in particular will be able to use Google products in the future if the material they are writing is deemed inappropriate by the company.
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Anurag Singh was a Tech Writer on Dexerto’s UK team, expertly covering laptops, smartphones, and wearables. He covers the biggest tech news from major brands such as Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft. He also has bylines at Android Police, Neowin, MakeTechEasier, Gizmochina.
