California Unveils Website To Combat Revenge Porn

[proverbialwisdom]

Source: by Juliet Bennett Rylah in News on LAist

Oct 14, 2015 4:40 pm

California Attorney General Kamala Harris today unveiled a new website that will help victims of cyber exploitation and revenge porn.

Revenge porn is when someone distributes sexually explicit photos or video online without receiving permission from the people in the media with the intention of causing distress or extorting money from them. Often, the victims have little recourse but to deal with the humiliation and other ramifications that can occur from this cruel practice. California was the first state to declare this kind of cyber exploitation
illegal in 2013.

The new site, which can be found here, will contain numerous resources for those trying to eradicate revenge porn, either in their own lives or the lives of others.

"Posting intimate images online without consent is a coward crime that humiliates and belittles victims," Harris said, according to City News Service. "These new tools will assist law enforcement in combating cyber exploitation and support victims seeking justice."

The site contains information for victims as to how they can have photos and video removed from websites and search engines. The FAQ section for victims offers resources about what someone should do if they are a victim of a crime, including getting screenshots of the abuse, setting up search engine alerts to notify you when your name pops up online, and filing a police report. The site also provides information to those in law enforcement as to how to efficiently investigate and prosecute related cases. Additionally, the site gives guidance for tech companies looking to prevent people from posting revenge porn on their websites. Harris noted that companies like Facebook, Twitter, Google and Microsoft have all taken steps or have agreed to change policies in order to deal with these crimes.

Read more: http://laist.com/2015/10/14/end_cyber_exploitation.php

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http://www.oag.ca.gov/cyberexploitation
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1015-cyber-exploitation-20151015-story.html

[proverbialwisdom]

1. More.

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_28969241/californias-attorney-general-launches-war-revenge-porn-and

California's attorney general launches a war on 'revenge porn' and other cyber crimes

By Patrick May
POSTED: 10/14/2015 12:28:20 PM PDT

Calling revenge porn and other cyberborne assaults against women "heinous" crimes, California Attorney General Kamala Harris on Wednesday unveiled a campaign to have tech companies and law enforcement team up to fight cyber-exploitation, make it easier for people to remove non-consensual images of themselves from online sites, and help victims of online crime find justice.

The announcement laid out a wide range of efforts to train police and bring offenders to justice while enlisting some of Silicon Valley's major players to find ways to stanch the wave of so-called revenge porn, the criminal act of posting intimate photos or videos online without the consent of the individual. Harris said helping victims get these images taken down from social media sites and having their cases investigated were two areas where the tech giants' expertise and input were key.

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The campaign is the result of nine months of work by the attorney general's Cyber Exploitation Working Group, a collaboration between the Department of Justice, major technology companies, law enforcement and victims' advocates.

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Meanwhile, cyber-safety advocates praised Harris and her task force for their work, which many hope will provide a model for other states to follow.

"Cyber-exploitation is the frontier of domestic violence,'' said Erica Johnstone, a San Francisco attorney and co-founder of Without My Consent, a nonprofit that develops educational materials to empower victims of digital abuse to seek justice. "Sixty-eight percent of domestic abuse survivors report images being posted online by an abuser without consent. While anyone can be affected by cyber-exploitation, 90 percent of victims are women.

"Women," she said, "deserve safety from harassment, abuse and threats of violence."

#EndCyberExploitation