The ABC of Revenge Porn

Revenge porn is on the rise and social media is making it worse for victims to control it from spreading. Revenge porn refers to posting of personal, usually sexually explicit content online without the permission of the person or people in the content. It could be photos or videos that clearly reveal the person’s identity. Such content may sometimes be accompanied by name, personal contact details and text that defames the victim. We at Leakserv, help victims with revenge porn removal from social media and other pages on the internet.

Revenge porn is usually a result of a romantic relationship gone bad, when one of the partners is unable to deal with the broken relationship. It could also be a result of workplace rivalries or disgruntled employees. Such explicit content can also lead to online stalking and harassment of the victim, along with emotional distress and humiliation due to the kind of content that has been made public. Have you fallen victim to revenge porn? Or are you looking for ways to avoid becoming a victim? Read on to understand how Leakserv can help you with both, prevention and damage control of revenge porn, and what you can do to stay safe.

How not to become a revenge porn victim

Revenge porn has become so common that almost every day, people fall victim to it. Most of the victims are women, although men may also be targeted at times. Often, families, friends or even colleagues may find such content online before anything can be done about it, leading to embarrassing situations at home and work. Victims may also be harassed at work by coworkers who may have seen such content.

Often, the content may be old. The victims may have forgotten that such content exists or that their former partners may have access to it. With the increase in social media and internet connectivity, such content can spread like wildfire across the web and reach people at their home or workplace.

If you have already become a victim to revenge porn, go to the last section of the page to understand what you can do to control and remove such content from the public sphere. Although somewhat difficult, it is possible to control the spreading of such content online even after it has been posted on a public forum or web page. Understand that with revenge porn, time is everything. The earlier you react to it and control it, the easier and faster it is to get it off the web. Get in touch with the Leakserv team right away if you find such content online, and we will ensure that the content is reported and taken down at the earliest from all traceable sources on the internet.

However, if you are worried that you might become a victim of revenge porn and wish to take preventive measures, here are a few things that you could do to avoid such a situation.

Steps to avoiding publication of revenge porn online

1. Avoid taking pictures that are explicit or compromising in any way. In this day and age of mobile phone cameras, content can be uploaded or even hacked from gadgets without much difficulty. Ensure that such content does not exist at all, anywhere.
2. If, for any reason, you decide to take sexually explicit photos of yourself, do not ever share them with anyone, no matter how much you trust them. Things can always go bad between the two of you, or the device or email could get hacked, exposing you to possible leaks of the content.
3. Parents and elders in the family should speak to youngsters about the dangers of having such content on any device. There should be a discussion about it before the youngster has access to webcams, phone cameras or any other connected devices.
4. If you realize that someone has taken explicit photos or videos of you with or without your consent, insist that they delete it immediately and not send it to anyone. Delete the content yourself or check the device to ensure that it has been permanently deleted. Contact Leakserv if you are having issues getting the content deleted permanently.
5. If, for any reason, someone you know has your explicit content and refuses to delete it permanently, seek help. Ask anyone who has authority over the person to force them. Do not be scared to be strict and straightforward about your reservations.
6. It is common for people to pose for cameras explicitly during fun parties, but it is dangerous. Almost everyone at a party has phones and other devices with cameras, and you may not even realize that such content has been recorded. Avoid doing so at all costs, even if you know all the people at the party well.
7. If you are at an event that has hired photographers, ensure that you make it clear to them that they do not take photos of you unless you agree to pose for them. It is best to not pose for strangers at such events and risk the photos being edited and posted online. However, if you do pose, check the photos before the photographer leaves the place.
8. Do not trust strangers who ask to take professional photos of you and get you into movies or into the glamor industry. Do not, for any reason whatsoever, pose for such people or let them shoot you with the promise of making you famous. They could have sinister intentions.
9. Do not post explicit sexual content of any kind on social media websites. Even if you share it personally with one or a few people, there is a huge risk that it might get leaked or be released online later. You may want profile hits, but do not use explicit content to get such results.

Prevention is best when it comes to revenge porn. If there is no explicit content of you, no one can post it anywhere. The best prevention is to ensure that such content is never created by anyone, no matter how much you love or trust them.

What to do if you see your personal photos posted online

What if you have not been careful enough and now there is explicit content of you posted online? What if you trusted someone and they betrayed you? What if you never knew such content existed at all and now it is all over the internet? There are a few things you can do to control the damage caused by revenge porn.

1. Time is of the essence when it comes to revenge porn. If you notice such content featuring yourself online, stay calm and seek help immediately. The faster you get to work, the easier it is to curb the content from spreading.
2. Approach law enforcement authorities and file a formal complaint. It is especially important if anyone in the photos or videos is underage, or you are absolutely certain that you did not explicitly permit anyone to publish the content anywhere online.
3. Even if you have hired someone else to find and remove the content, it is best to sit with them and help them identify the content from various sources. The content may be morphed, edited or cropped in ways that only you are able to recognize it, so help out the people who are taking down the content for you.

Understand that such content, even if uploaded on some social media website, can spread to other websites in no time. The longer it has been around, the more probable it is that the content will crop up in different places online, and will be shared by multiple people. If you are unsure of what to do when you find such content, simply let us, at Leakserv know about your problem in detail as you can, and we will do our best to help you out.

What you can begin with

It is advisable to seek out help from professionals to ensure that the explicit content is taken off the web completely. However, if you do not want to wait till you get help or response from professionals, you can start on your own. Here are a few tips if you wish to undo the damage on your own:

1. Check for the policies to take down content on each of the web pages where you have found the content.
2. Be factual when sending a request to the web page to take down the content. Do not give any additional details that could be used to further spice up the content.
3. State clearly that the content is your property and that you did not permit any one to share it online.

If you have any questions about the take down process or any other information about what we do, do not hesitate to write to us on our contact page. Explain your problem in as much detail as you can, and be clear on what you would like us to do. Include links of the content, and give details of the nature of content, ownership and permissions. The more truthful and straightforward you are with us, the easier it is for us to help you and get rid of any explicit content online that may harm you in any way.