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Revenge Porn Is On Government Radar Again In California

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Steve Ambrose Contributor
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The California government is taking aim at anyone who posts sexualized images of others without their consent.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris, announced in a statement Oct. 14, the creation of a new, online resource to help combat the threat of revenge porn.

“Posting intimate images online without consent is a cowardly crime that humiliates and belittles victims,” Harris said at a press conference. “These new tools will assist law enforcement in combating cyber exploitation and support victims in seeking justice. I would like to thank our partners from our task force, whose work will have a global impact in combating this heinous crime.”

The resource hub is a one-stop-shop for stopping or dealing with instances of cyber exploitation.

cyber-exploitation-steps

The site gives victims instructions on removing images from various online outlets. They also provide direct links to remove nude photos from popular sites like Snapchat, Flickr, and 4chan. Guidelines for law enforcement are also noted, including a listing of all the state’s computer crimes.

To assist technology companies, the site consolidates some of the common, industry-adopted best practices. Guidelines for terms and conditions, community outreach, and a verification process are all mentioned.

According to Ars Technica, the online hub is only one phase of Harris’ plan. “She’s asking for the California legislature to pass additional laws as well. AB 1310 would allow state lawyers to prosecute exploitation suspects in the victims’ jurisdiction, while SB 676 gives law enforcement ‘a process for seizing and destroying cyber exploitation images,’” the site says.

The announcement from Harris’ office follows the recent initiative by one of the most popular porn websites in the country—Pornhub. (RELATED: Pornhub Is Offering $25,000 College Scholarship For Good Grades, Leadership.)

Pornhub has added a page to their site that allows any user to flag content that has been posted without a subject’s permission.

Speaking to Huffington Post on Oct. 14, Pornhub’s Vice President of Operations Corey Price said:

“Pornhub has always taken requests to remove of this kind of content very seriously and have clearly indicated that these types of unauthorized uploads are forbidden in our terms of use. This has been the case since day one. The decision to completely overhaul our current system and streamline the reporting process was simply a reaffirmation of this stance.”

According to a study from the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, 90 percent of the victim of revenge porn are female. Additionally, “93 percent of all victims suffered significant emotional distress, 51 percent had suicidal thoughts, and 49 percent reported they had been stalked or harassed online by users who saw their material,” the report stated.

The California cyber exploitation initiative stems from the prosecution of Kevin Bollaert, a “revenge porn operator.” Bollaert collected about 10,000 nude images without consent and uploaded them to his website uGotPosted.com. He would then extort the victims for up to $350 per image before he would remove them from his site. Bollaert received eight years in prison for his crimes. (RELATED: ‘Revenge Porn’ Victims Vindicated As Website Operator Faces Charges.)

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