Reddit Cracks Down On Unauthorized Nude Photos, Revenge Porn
Reddit regrets the way it handled "The Fappening" (or "Celebgate," if you prefer), the name given to the incident in which hackers plucked hundreds of nude celebrity photos from iCloud and made them available for posting to public sites. While it's too late to go back in time and take a mulligan, Reddit is making changes to its privacy policy to prohibit posting nude and sexual photos and videos without the subject's consent.
Posting sexually explicit images and videos without the subject's knowledge or permission is part of a growing trend called "revenge porn." In many cases, there's little recourse for victims of revenge porn to go after their exes or the parties responsible for posting their nude photos online without permission, as it's not a federal offense.
That means that sites like Reddit are protected by section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, a piece of Internet legislation that provides immunity for providers and users of an Interactive computer service against content posted by third parties, so long as it doesn't violate federal law.
Nevertheless, Reddit is taking a stand before possibly becoming legally required to do so, depending on future legislation.
"Last year, we missed a chance to be a leader in social media when it comes to protecting your privacy -- something we’ve cared deeply about since Reddit’s inception. At our recent all hands company meeting, this was something that we all, as a company, decided we needed to address," Reddit stated in a blog post.
Reddit's mention of a missed chance is referring to The Fappening. The CEO at the time, Yishan Wong, decided "not to interfere" with any policy changes, "not because we don't care, but because we care that you make your choices between right and wrong."
Not long after, Wong resigned and was replaced by Ellen Pao as interim CEO.
The revised privacy policy goes into effect on March 10, 2015. At that time, subjects of sexually explicit photos and videos posted to the site without their consent can request that the content be taken down.
Posting sexually explicit images and videos without the subject's knowledge or permission is part of a growing trend called "revenge porn." In many cases, there's little recourse for victims of revenge porn to go after their exes or the parties responsible for posting their nude photos online without permission, as it's not a federal offense.
That means that sites like Reddit are protected by section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, a piece of Internet legislation that provides immunity for providers and users of an Interactive computer service against content posted by third parties, so long as it doesn't violate federal law.
Nevertheless, Reddit is taking a stand before possibly becoming legally required to do so, depending on future legislation.
"Last year, we missed a chance to be a leader in social media when it comes to protecting your privacy -- something we’ve cared deeply about since Reddit’s inception. At our recent all hands company meeting, this was something that we all, as a company, decided we needed to address," Reddit stated in a blog post.
Reddit's mention of a missed chance is referring to The Fappening. The CEO at the time, Yishan Wong, decided "not to interfere" with any policy changes, "not because we don't care, but because we care that you make your choices between right and wrong."
Not long after, Wong resigned and was replaced by Ellen Pao as interim CEO.
The revised privacy policy goes into effect on March 10, 2015. At that time, subjects of sexually explicit photos and videos posted to the site without their consent can request that the content be taken down.
