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Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

theguardian.com

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Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#41

Post by dec0dedab0de »

deegles wrote: post #40
brighteyes wrote: post #30

Facebook disabling 14,000 accounts in a single month because of that kind of terrible behavior does show this is a serious problem. But it's still a very rare problem. Given Facebook has 1.19 billion monthly users, that's on the order of 1 in 100,000 accounts.

That seems high to me. We should strive for this to be so rare that it's news-worthy when it happens at all.

Well, it's really just an extension of gossip, blame, scandal and shaming that has been around forever. There would need to be a major social change first. Otherwise, even the perfect tech solution would just force this bullshit to move somewhere else.

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#42

Post by [deleted] »

showerst wrote: post #32
vivekd wrote: post #26

So here's my thing: Imagine a world where facebook didn't exist. Would it have been impossible for this guy to get their photos and videos, post them on the internet? I guess facebook does make it easier to email things to family and friends - but it only does so with the user's consent - you have the option to make your friends list private. It seems to me like this guy is a real creep, and he should certainly be pu…

I didn't downvote you, but I think your frame of reference here is awful. Victim blaming in these cases really understates the harm caused by these actions, and the lack of agency that the victims have in preventing them. If the same boyfriend had stabbed her, would it be her fault for dumping someone who might stab her later? Of course not. The victim has a legal (and ethical) right to take whatever photos she deems…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#43

Post by [deleted] »

showerst wrote: post #32
vivekd wrote: post #26

So here's my thing: Imagine a world where facebook didn't exist. Would it have been impossible for this guy to get their photos and videos, post them on the internet? I guess facebook does make it easier to email things to family and friends - but it only does so with the user's consent - you have the option to make your friends list private. It seems to me like this guy is a real creep, and he should certainly be pu…

I didn't downvote you, but I think your frame of reference here is awful. Victim blaming in these cases really understates the harm caused by these actions, and the lack of agency that the victims have in preventing them. If the same boyfriend had stabbed her, would it be her fault for dumping someone who might stab her later? Of course not. The victim has a legal (and ethical) right to take whatever photos she deems…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#44

Post by pavel_lishin »

vivekd wrote: post #26

So here's my thing: Imagine a world where facebook didn't exist. Would it have been impossible for this guy to get their photos and videos, post them on the internet? I guess facebook does make it easier to email things to family and friends - but it only does so with the user's consent - you have the option to make your friends list private. It seems to me like this guy is a real creep, and he should certainly be pu…

> I guess facebook does make it easier to email things to family and friends - but it only does so with the user's consent - you have the option to make your friends list private.

An ex-boyfriend wouldn't know the name of his ex-girlfriend's parents? Wouldn't be able to recognize them in the profile photos?

> But your friend also seems to have made a poor decision in allowing someone who is a creep to take very personal photos and videos of herself which could cause enormous humiliation.

He's likely only a creep in hindsight. And many things you share with people have the potential to cause humiliation. Opening yourself up to others is dangerous - but necessary.

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#45

Post by gozur88 »

objclxt wrote: post #28
gozur88 wrote: post #20

So The Guardian puts this article up just as May's government is promising to tighten government restrictions on social media. That was convenient.

The Guardian isn't a right-wing paper, it's left of center, and I can't remember when it last endorsed the tories. You'd be far more likely to see that kind of thing from The Telegraph or The Daily Mail. There's another explanation much closer to home which doesn't involve Theresa May: The Guardian, like many other newspapers, is under intense pressure from Facebook which is eroding their direct traffic in favor of t…

Sure, but the timing is suspicious. The editors at The Guardian aren't above giving a Tory proposal a little push if it's in their interest. Besides, Labour is proposing essentially the same thing.

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#46

Post by js2 »

vivekd wrote: post #35
js2 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of your questions come very close to blaming the victim, don't they? What the real shame here to me is that nude photos/videos are something to be ashamed of or embarrassed about in the first place. Because from that premise, now you need to be careful about what you allow to be filmed and by whom. It is especially sad that women apparently need too worry about this a lot more than men.

>Because from that premise, now you need to be careful about what you allow to be filmed and by whom. Yes, exactly!! You do need to be careful about what you allow to be filmed and by whom. That is the substance of my comment. I agree that this is unfortunate. Maybe in some wonderful utopia to come we won't have to worry about such things, but in this world and under current circumstances, unfortunately we have to ta…

You still shouldn't blame the victim. The problem here is the perpetrator. He probably would have found some other way to embarrass his girfriend even if she hadn't allowed the pictures/videos.

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#47

Post by foldr »

vivekd wrote: post #38
barsonme wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But your friend also seems to have made a poor decision in allowing someone who is a creep to take very personal photos and videos of herself which could cause enormous humiliation. Yeah, this is just classic victim blaming nonsense. Sure, it's good advice to avoid recording anything you don't want eventually published—this goes for conversations as much as it does 'personal' pictures and videos. But that's entirel…

She dated the wrong guy and trusted him too much. That's fine, lots of women make that mistake and she shouldn't be shamed or blamed for that. I never said she should be. All I am saying is that it's not facebooks responsibility to fix that mistake for her.

She didn't make a mistake. This is entirely the guy's fault, not hers.

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#48

Post by Strom »

barsonme wrote: post #31
vivekd wrote: post #26

So here's my thing: Imagine a world where facebook didn't exist. Would it have been impossible for this guy to get their photos and videos, post them on the internet? I guess facebook does make it easier to email things to family and friends - but it only does so with the user's consent - you have the option to make your friends list private. It seems to me like this guy is a real creep, and he should certainly be pu…

> But your friend also seems to have made a poor decision in allowing someone who is a creep to take very personal photos and videos of herself which could cause enormous humiliation. Yeah, this is just classic victim blaming nonsense. Sure, it's good advice to avoid recording anything you don't want eventually published—this goes for conversations as much as it does 'personal' pictures and videos. But that's entirel…

The parent's central point isn't that the the victim is to blame here. It's that this sort of harassment is very much possible even without facebook existing.

Being a victim does not make one immune to criticism. Agreeing to produce material that you don't want to be publicized does carry a risk. Not talking about this risk and shoving it under the carpet isn't going to help solve the problem. It's very much relevant here, as that is one key reason that enabled this whole drama. It may be increasingly normal for people to produce such material, but as shown by the article it's also increasingly common that this material is abused. Being more careful with production and storage of such material is a perfectly valid strategy to avoid this type of abuse. It shouldn't be ignored just because it can also be viewed as a mistake by a victim.

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#49

Post by phaus »

rburhum wrote: post #18

I had a female friend last month whose ex-bf created a fake account and proceeded to set the profile and public photos and videos of them (having sex). He then went ahead and started sending friend requests to her entire family and friends. I felt so bad for her - it was awful enough to make her even have suicide thoughts. What really surprised me was how horrible the FB system to report stuff like this is. It is bas…

Not sure what the norm is, but I reported a fake account using my wife's picture (just a single, regular portrait) and it was removed within 5 minutes.

A month would be ridiculous. I wonder if that happens often?

Re: Facebook flooded with 'sextortion' and revenge porn, files reveal

#50

Post by [deleted] »

barsonme wrote: post #31
vivekd wrote: post #26

So here's my thing: Imagine a world where facebook didn't exist. Would it have been impossible for this guy to get their photos and videos, post them on the internet? I guess facebook does make it easier to email things to family and friends - but it only does so with the user's consent - you have the option to make your friends list private. It seems to me like this guy is a real creep, and he should certainly be pu…

> But your friend also seems to have made a poor decision in allowing someone who is a creep to take very personal photos and videos of herself which could cause enormous humiliation. Yeah, this is just classic victim blaming nonsense. Sure, it's good advice to avoid recording anything you don't want eventually published—this goes for conversations as much as it does 'personal' pictures and videos. But that's entirel…

[deleted]
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