End an Eroding Era of Revenge Porn

Right to be Forgotten and Move on: End an Eroding Era of Revenge Porn

Humiliated by your online obscene pictures? Unsecure of people’s intention now or later? Has anyone without your permission shared or threatens to expose your pictures online. In case you are encountering or have been a victim of such incidents, all you need to seek is help. Don’t panic. We need to just calm our nerves. You are not wronged or gonna be accused just because you were on the sender’s end. There are various ways in which you can secure or protect yourself from such malicious activities.

Revenge was supposedly the term used in many movies genre earlier causing harm for others physically and with the intention to hurt. But nowadays the high rise of cases of technological menace don’t intend to target your physical but emotional and mental wellbeing. They have coined the term “Revenge Porn” which is one of the disturbing trends in prevalence. It means to share photos and videos of explicit content without their will on online platforms with the motive to cause embarrassment, revenge, harm, distress or damage their personal reputation.

Blaming the Victim or Victim Shaming:

Seems to be the convenient way for many but not a convincing one. There would be many who question the ethical values behind them and always find faults with everything. Similar to why sexual assault happens, because of inappropriate way of dressing and why do they share private photos with others, if they knew it could go wrong. Though the nonexistence of sources seems an easy way out of avoidance, in reality, we need to be more secure with the environment considering the common nature of social media influence and sharing every detail on the internet. Not all actions involve a call for a reaction, only sensible reactions appropriate to the people surrounding us are welcomed.

Statistically proven more than 75% of people would have shared their intimate or private body pictures with someone sometimes. New age romance, long-term relationship or to boost your sexual health we intend to share nudes which is extremely common among partners. But the point arises not when it was consensually shared and trashed. It is a threat when the establishment of the trust is broken or turned against to shatter someone’s privacy or dignity.

Technology and pandemic have forced us to inevitably view others personal space and share our data with others. So revenge porn perspective is not limited to ex-partners or known people in a relationship it could be as a reason for blackmail, stalking, threatening, or money extortion activities by a stranger or person you met online. Image-based sexual assault is an important technique used by many perpetrators on chat sites or social media platforms.

Sharing someone else images without their permission can cause devastating effects in addition the threats, coercion can cause a prolonged impact on all the victims, especially women. By doing the act of exposing others personal images, you are violating trust and integrity. Not only it is measured against your personal traits, but it can also call for serious offense in the eyes of law as well. It is a serious cybercrime that needs to be addressed to protect against the traumas which victims encounter.

At the time images were shared it could be consensual but once the pictures are out in public to whom it was not meant to be, then crossing that line of breach of trust lands the person guilty. It will be looked upon as an act either for seeking revenge or monetary benefits and will be treated as a violation of individual privacy.

If you are a victim of revenge porn, what you could be done from your end? don’t respond to such blackmail threats and give out their requirement to protect yourself it would again invite you more trouble. Just seek help or advice from any people of expertise in these matters. If it appears on a website or social media site, report the images to the site, ask for them to be removed and the perpetrator to be blocked. You can check their community guidelines and copyright claims act in case any of your personal info is leaked into their website. Don’t foresee the effects and be too embarrassed or ashamed to report revenge porn, as you could not only help yourself but also other actual or potential victims.

What happens when you report revenge porn?

When you raise a personal complaint to the authorities of any online platform, they got a committee to meet these redressal concerning pictures circulating online that were not intended to be shared. These online platforms to whom these complaints were raised have to “act expeditiously to remove, disable, or block access to non-consensual content that exposes a person’s private areas, full or partial nudity, sexual act, or revenge porn, where such content is targeted to harass, disrepute, or intimidate an individual. A Platform must acknowledge the receipt of the complaint and take down the content within 24 hours upon receiving a notice from a user or an authorized government agency.

But the limitation and most difficult thing about tackling revenge porn is the sheer number of channels by which it is distributed. Once the pictures are out, it lands in many unseen or unpopular sources and keeps circulating due to the anonymity of a wider user base online. The only thing everyone should practice is online empathy. Don’t act virtually rude, insensible, or harmful to others, it is you and your character which determines how you reflect yourself by your online existence. Just don’t take your anonymity for granted for such unlawful, inhuman acts. Try to show respect to others privacy similar to yours. Keep sensitive information protected by following good net and chat etiquette.

AN EYE FOR AN EYE MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD BLIND. – Mahatma Gandhi

IT’S NOT OKAY TO SHARE ANY PERSONAL PICTURES WITHOUT ONE’S CONSENT. DOUBLE PERIOD..