Revenge Porn, the destructive trend sweeping the internet.

As with many new innovations, it’s common for the ‘actual use’ to deviate from the creators ‘intended use’. Take Bubble Wrap for example, invented in 1957 by Al Fielding and Marc Chavannes. The intended use, a textured wallpaper. The actual use, protecting valuable items (and entertaining kids to no end).

The internet is no exception, and while the intended use of sharing information is carried out over 5 billion times daily, one of the actual uses is becoming ever more popular and this is the nonconsensual publication of explicit images, otherwise known as ‘image-based abuse’ or ‘revenge porn’.[1]

On an average day in July 2019, approximately 95 million images and videos were uploaded to Instagram alone. While there are no statistics yet that analyse the percentage increase in revenge porn amongst these uploads, Internet Removals can anecdotally speak to the fact that since 2016 there has been a consistent increase in victims reporting such incidents.

Our team recently conducted surveillance on known chat forums and within minutes, we identified several discussions on the issue. See the following screenshots:

As you can see, one of the most common resorts is for victims to turn to underground internet forums for advice, as quite often law enforcement and government agencies are not sufficiently resourced to train staff on the issue, or to investigate and resolve the complaint.

The issue of revenge porn tends to occur in two distinct ways. The first cause of revenge porn is the sharing of explicit images without consent, with the intention to cause harm, embarrassment and shame to the person pictured. This often occurs as a result of one party terminating a relationship.

The second cause of explicit images being posted online is inadequate data security. For example, some people lose their own phones which are unsecured or have their email, iCloud, Google Drive, DropBox and other online storage accounts hacked. When this occurs, hackers often attempt to blackmail the victim for a payment, which typically involves bitcoin and relentless threats of sharing the images online.

In both occurrences, it’s not hard to see how easily such a useful and easily accessible tool such as the internet, can be used as a powerful tool to blackmail, harm and harass. While unfortunate, it highlights the need for greater education in schools, at home and within workplaces, of the dire consequences that can occur as a result of victimizing someone like this. In some cases, it results in suicide, and in others, severe depression, anxiety, self-harming and social withdrawal.

Quite recently, Internet Removals has shut down over 22,000 images and videos which were for the most part ‘revenge porn’ or ‘image-based abuse’. Read more about these successful removals here:

Internet Removals takes down 14,628 URL’s relating to Revenge Porn and Image-based Abuse.

Internet Removals takes down 7,583 URL’s relating to Revenge Porn and Image-based Abuse.

Another 113 URL’s taken down relating to Revenge Porn and Image-based Abuse.

See also recent news coverage on Revenge Porn:

Names and locations of Aussie women being listed on sick revenge porn websites.

Revenge porn: How to tell if your date is crazy.

If you think you might be a victim of revenge porn, see our article ‘Revenge Porn Victim, the ultimate check list’.

Note: We make no claim as to the accuracy of the advice contained within the pictures within this publication.*

[1] https://www.statista.com/topics/1145/internet-usage-worldwide/

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