Technology Diary (9/26)

Alas, there is something called “revenge porn” and it exists. As if the pornography industry couldn’t get any misogynistic… In case you are unfamiliar with the term, revenge porn is when angry (and often male) exes post their exes’ nudes or videos that were sent to them in confidence during the relationship online for all to see and…enjoy. This is quickly becoming what was a niche industry to mainstream category of porn as revenge porn websites make a lot of money off of traffic and ad space sales.

If this wasn’t already a huge invasion of privacy, some websites even allow exes to post the woman’s address and contact information. This has led to some women being stalked by strangers who recognize their photos, losing/quitting their jobs, changing their appearance, and even changing their names.

Unfortunately and maybe not surprisingly, there has been little done legally against the people participating in this growing business. Lawyers defending these men are claiming that their first amendment rights protect them, even though these images are not their own. They were stolen from these women; the pictures were not theirs to share. Similar ideologies of victim-blaming are being used to justify the disgusting actions of these men. Arguments of how she shouldn’t have taken pictures in the first place and how at the time, she gave them willingly run rampant in defenses.

However, these girls are fighting back with good lawyers! These individual cases have teamed up for a collective cause and fighting on the grounds of invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, and even child pornography! The movement to end revenge porn has been slow to start, but California just passed its first law revenge porn sites even if it only entails some jail time or a fine. New Jersey also has a criminalizing law, however not specifically addressing revenge porn.

Just to leave a sour taste on your tongue, Hunter Moore (creator of revenge porn site isanyoneup.com) said in an interview in response to if he had any qualms profiting from public revenge, “why would I? I get to look at naked girls all day.”

Angry and outraged? Help End Revenge Porn. (endrevengeporn.org)