Revenge porn is a touchy subject for many reasons. Not only does it deal with a loss of privacy, but it also violates consent and is illegal in various territories. The history of revenge porn is much longer than most people think, stretching back to the 80s with magazines like Hustler.
Over the years, there have been some pretty severe cases of revenge porn. Below are some examples of the worst cases of revenge porn and why we need to eradicate the practice from the internet.
Tulisa Constostavlos
Tulisa Constostavlos is a British singer famous for being in the group N-Dubz. Hers is one of the most high-profile cases of revenge porn on the internet. In 2012, an ex-lover posted an explicit video they had filmed online without her consent. After a lengthy legal battle, the star successfully used an injunction to remove the videos from numerous websites. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the internet, the videos are still available in various places online.
MyEx.com
MyEx.com was a site famous for hosting revenge porn. It was founded in 2013, and for five years, it hosted nude photos and personal details of numerous men and women. The site asked people to upload nude photos of their ex-partners after their relationship ended. Not only did these posts share a lot of identifying information, but the site hosts often charged people to remove these indecent images, sometimes charging nearly $3000.
In 2018, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) took the site offline, and the operators were prevented from running any websites in the future. The site had over 12,000 posts exposing people’s images and personal information when it was taken down.
Anon-IB
Perhaps one of the most famous revenge porn websites in history, Anon-IB was a place where users could anonymously submit illicit pictures of others. Not only did users submit photos to the board, but they also requested pictures of women from their areas to be uploaded. There are numerous reports of the damage this site has done to people over the years, including supposedly being ground zero for the Fappening incident in 2012.
Fortunately, the site was eventually taken down in 2018 when Dutch police completed a year-long investigation. Since then, there have been several attempts to revive the area under different names. The only way to be sure it’s gone for good is to strengthen international laws around non-consensual pornography.
Is Anyone Up?
Is Anyone Up? was a website launched in late 2010 by infamous internet denizen Hunter Moore. The website started as a way of hosting nude photographs after the creator was sent suggestive messages. Between its launch and closing in 2012, Is Anyone Up? hosted thousands of non-consensual illicit images. Not only that but the site also linked to the Facebook pages of those features on the site. As if things couldn’t get worse, the site even had a “Daily Hate” section that displayed angry messages from people who had their nudes featured.
Luckily, since 2012, the site has been taken down thanks to the efforts of James McCibney, an ex-marine who purchased the site and redirected all traffic away from it, effectively shutting it down. Unfortunately, Hunter Moore is still around and seems to enjoy trying to ruin people’s lives.
How to Protect Yourself
The best way to protect yourself from revenge porn is never to take nudes in the first place. If you must, ensure you’re with someone you know and trust. You should also avoid using web services like Google Drive and Dropbox to store photos. These services are very convenient, but if someone gets into your account, they have access to everything you’ve uploaded there. Also, be sure that if you keep your explicit photos on your phone, you don’t leave them lying around. It’s not hard these days for someone to quickly message or email themselves your pictures while your back is turned.
Why We Must Stop This
These examples of the damage that revenge porn can do illustrate just how serious the issue is. Groups like the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative are doing important work. They try to get governments to introduce more powerful legislation to combat non-consensual pornography. It becomes clear that not all law enforcement personnel take these cases seriously. That is something that needs to change.
If you’ve been the victim of revenge porn, contact us, and we can help you. Learn how you can remove revenge porn on your own here.
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