As revenge porn gains steam across the internet, it’s unsurprising that it has started to make its way to social media sites. Facebook, for example, just received its first lawsuit on the subject — a woman named Meyem Ali is suing the social media company for not appropriately handling revenge porn posts created about her on the site.

The idea behind revenge porn is as simple as it is disgusting. It is essentially nude pictures of a person posted online, without the person’s consent, by someone who has the intention of hurting them. It can take the form of pictures that an individual sent to a former partner, pictures that were stolen, or even photos that were photoshopped to appear nude. It’s important to note that the title “porn” is pretty misleading. It’s not so much porn as it is public humiliation. The “revenge” aspect comes from the fact that the explicit photos are often posted by a jilted ex-partner.

Revenge porn has existed ostensibly since the beginning of the Internet, perhaps longer, but it has only crept into public consciousness relatively recently. In 2010, a man named Hunter Moore created a site called IsAnyoneUp.com. It quickly became a the go-to platform for revenge porn, given that the site allowed submitters to annotate the photo with the subject’s name, address, and other personal information. It was an easy way for people who wanted to get “revenge” to really pinpoint their targets, because the person’s photo being posted on the site would often lead to ridicule, public-shaming, and harassment. Moore encouraged the postings, alleging that the women who were featured deserved it because they had taken pictures of themselves in compromising positions. IsAnyoneUp.com also contained some stolen and fabricated photos. Moore has since been arrested and indicted on charges of identity theft, among other things. But revenge porn still exists, and has started to creep into other corners of the internet.

This is how we get to Meyem Ali’s story. The Texas woman discovered a page in 2013 under her name. It contained multiple photos of her face photoshopped onto a nude woman’s body. In one of the pictures her body double was performing a sex act. She repeatedly asked Facebook to take the photos down, but they pretty much ignored her requests for nearly five months. Eventually she got the police involved, and after receiving a subpoena the company took down the pictures. Ali also found who had posted the account in the first place — a man with whom she had a casual relationship years before. Now, she is suing both the man and Facebook for the ordeal, arguing that for her completely public humiliation, she is entitled to 10 cents for each user Facebook has — totaling $123 million.

As sad as it sounds, Ali is somewhat lucky. Her concerns were taken seriously by the police, and some sort of action was taken. When it comes to revenge porn, that doesn’t always happen. Take the story of Charlotte and Kayla Laws — a mother and daughter pair from California. Kayla Laws had a topless picture of herself saved on her personal computer that she had never shared with anyone. Upon emailing the image to herself, the picture was stolen from the server and posted on IsAnyoneUp.com. At the time, only one state — New Jersey — had any sort of legislation criminalizing revenge porn. She and her mother fought back, especially after they were pretty much denied help from the police. One detective, missing the point so completely that he ended up on another planet, asked Kayla why she would even take a photo like that if she didn’t want people to see it. Eventually the Laws did gain the help of the FBI, but only after spending copious amounts of their own time and money trying to bring down Moore.

Since then, revenge porn legislation has gotten better…albeit slowly. Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin all have some sort of law prohibiting it. Ali’s lawsuit against Facebook is another important marker — it acknowledges that in some cases, the posting of revenge porn isn’t just the action of the person who posts it, but also the sites that provide platforms for its proliferation.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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In the moment, it may seem harmless to share a provocative photo with a significant other during the comfortable times of a relationship. However, when in emotional turmoil these photos can spread across the internet like wildfire, ruining your reputation and in some cases your life. There is one specific type of public humiliation with regards to nude photos and while not everyone may be aware of this new trend called revenge porn, others are reaping the legal ramifications for it. Revenge porn consists of sexually explicit material shared publically through the media and is often posted by either exes or in some cases hackers. Before rushing to Google to make sure that one of your own compromising photos has not been leaked across the web, you can feel some comfort in the fact that one of the key contributors for these revenge porn sites was arrested by the FBI on Thursday, January 23, 2014.

Hunter Moore, created a business out of revenge porn through the foundation of his website IsAnyoneUp.com, lasting for sixteen months. This site was originally intended to be an outlet for angry exes to post nude pictures of their previous partners, accompanied by the subject’s full name, city of residence, profession and links to their social media profile. As if all of this humiliation was not enough, Moore would also guarantee that the posted photos be displayed across Google for everyone to see, including bosses, professors or even parents. In its prime, IsAnyoneUp.com boasted around 350,000 views daily and 15 to 30 unlucky victims featured on the site per day ranged from infamous celebrities such as the real housewives to mothers and schoolteachers. All of this spiteful sharing of photos, has earned Hunter Moore the title; the most hated man on the internet. Not to worry though, this revenge site was shut down in April 2012, when it was bought by Bullyville.com

Moore and his hacker associate Charles Evens, spent their work days not only receiving photos of unfortunate victims but also hacking into the email accounts of chosen victims to steal sexually explicit photos to fuel their website. The two are currently facing the consequences as they are being charged with a 15 count indictment, involving identity theft, conspiracy and computer hacking. If the pair of hackers are found guilty of the accumulation of charges, they have the possibility of facing up to 42 years in prison.

The specific date of this hacking has not been completely uncovered, but there is email evidence dating back to October 2011. This emailing back and forth between Moore and Evens consisted of conversations regarding how to hack email accounts as well as plans to exchange up to $250 for nude photos of 6 males and 6 females. It is documented that as the ringleader of the website, Moore paid his hacking assistant up to $900 in individual installments through March 2012.

Officially, the indictment involves seven counts of unlawful entry into a computer to obtain personal information, seven accounts of identity theft and charges the two men with conspiracy. The indictment includes a list of seven victims, identified by their initials, all of whom had email accounts containing “among other things, nude pictures of themselves and others.” The indictment is signed by four attorneys within the United States, working in intellectual, cyber and property crimes as well as the United States attorney’s Criminal Division.

Those affected by Moore are not the only ones facing an issue with publicized explicit content on the web. Embarrassing situations revolving around the topics of sexting and nude photos have become a point of debate across the United States legal system. Many victims are attempting to eradicate revenge porn sites, such as Maryland woman, Annemarie Chiarini. On January 28, 2014 Chiarini begged the Maryland House Judiciary Committee to create new criminal laws preventing revenge porn, after her ex boyfriend published her explicit photos across the internet. Actions are actually being taken to prevent the defamation faced by victims such as Chiarini, as Dels. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D- Montgomary) and Jon S Cardin (D- Baltimore County) are attempting to extend protection against sexual harassment on the Internet. Such legislation would stop someone from sharing explicit material featuring another person without their consent as well as requiring proof that publicizing this content was meant to cause emotional pain. Chiarini is pushing her state to move forward in revenge porn legislation, while other states such as New Jersey and California have labeled this type of public sharing of explicit photos as a crime.

These cases present the idea that not everything on the internet is private and something shared in confidence can easily become publicly viewed. It is ridiculous to me that a revenge porn site that was secretly stealing nude photos from email accounts could even last for sixteen months. The government is supposedly watching everything that is happening online so why did this slip past their view for so long? Privacy needs to remain sacred over the internet. The fact that images of your body can be exposed to the public without your consent makes me question what else can be so easily leaked about you. Just imagine what other information that you believed to be private is actually floating around the web at this very moment. While some states such as Maryland have begun creating legislation regarding revenge porn, others have fallen completely behind or believe that certain cases of sharing explicit photos do not fall under the category of crime. This is neither right nor just. Legislation regarding revenge porn and maintaining the privacy of Internet users needs to happen, now.  It just makes sense that if a picture or private information is being shared without your consent and with the intent to undermine someones career or reputation, steps need to be taken by the court. Victims of this injustice should be allowed the right to fight back against wrongdoing. Embarrassment is one thing, but an alteration in your entire lifestyle for the worst is another. This violating action happened to innocent victims, that never believed their information would be spread online. It could have been anyone and one day if the courts do not step in, it could be you.  

[Rolling Stone]  [The Guardian] [The Washington Post]

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Taylor Garre (@TaylorLynn013)

Featured image courtesy of [Cory Doctorow via Flickr]

Taylor Garre

Taylor Garre is a student at Fordham University and formerly an intern at Law Street Media. Contact Taylor at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

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