Nude photo ban by Reddit, Google won't delete damage

The ban on sexual content that is posted online without consent to be implemented by Reddit and Google in Marchis an admirable effort, experts say, but they also paint a fairly bleak picture about its likely success at preventing further damage.

The ban by Googles Blogger service and social-networking and news site Reddit takes aim at leaked or stolen nude photos and so-called revenge pornography the posting of explicit images of former lovers.

Beginning March 10, anyone who wants a Redditimage or video of themselves removed from Reddit can email the site and they will take it down(contact@reddit.com), but that doesnt mean its gone.

Effective March 23, Blogger will no longer allow most nude photos to be posted on anything other than a private site.

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"The internet has no delete button," saidCarmiLevy, a technology analyst with voices.com, a tech company in London, Ont. "So once something goes online chances are it's going to pop up elsewhere. It is very much like a game of whack-a-mole trying to find out where else it popped up and trying to get ahead of it."

No permanent eraser

While a successful copyright complaint or email toRedditcould scrub images from one site forever, victims have to remain vigilant and continue filingtakedownnotices elsewhere on the web.

"If you are a victim of having something posted about you against your will, there really isnt a whole lot you can do," Levy said. "You cant simply go online and look for photos of yourself. Unless its properly tagged, you might never even know. Its a very frightening place to be."

Until now,Reddithas had a hands-off approach to privacy, largely allowing its 160 million users to police their own forums within certain guidelines such as no child pornography or spam. The change comes about six months after hackers obtained nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities and posted them to social media sites, includingReddit.

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Redditwas initially criticized for leaving the images up and for itshands-off policy. The site also came under fire whenWiredreported that Reddit made enough money offthestolen celebrity photosto keep its servers running for almost a month.

The company was applauded overTuesday'sannouncement for taking a stand against revenge porn and the posting of nude photos without consent, which Jennifer Lawrence called a "sex crime."

Levy said, "Its an admirable effort by bothRedditand Google to get ahead of a problem that has become very significant in recent years. Unfortunately, because of the way the internet is structured, it really is little more than wrapping paper."

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Redditcalled the move "one more step in the right direction," saying it would share how often thesetakedownsoccur in its yearly privacy report.

"You shouldn't do it because it's good PR, you should be liable for the damages the victims will suffer," Dr.AvnerLevinsaid.Levinis an associate professor at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and chair of the law and businessdepartment.

"That is what we have in terms of intellectual property. We should have a legal structure like that for people's private images."

Legislation passed byParliament in Octobermakes it illegal in Canada to circulate an intimate image without the subjects consent, but critics warn the law is too broad and vague.

"The big challenge is that with the provision of the intimate image there is a defence of whether the person being photographed had a reasonable expectation of privacy," Levinsaid. "What is the context of the photo taking? What was the expectation when the photo was taken and has it been breached?"

Victims can still sue fordefamation, breach of privacyand copyright law violation, but "the internet is the technological equivalent of the Wild West," Levy says. "By the time this works its way through the legal system, years will have gone by and your bank account will have been depleted."

"The legal system simply cannot keep up with technology."

Cultural shift

The only real solution for the time being, Levy says, is to not take those kinds of photos in the first place.

"It might sound overly simplistic," he said. "But when relationships end these photos now become weapons used by one party against another and that happens time and again."

However, that seems unlikely.

Millennialswho grew up in the digital age of cell phones andselfieshave ushered in a shift in the culture of documenting our daily lives.

"I think it's really common," says MichelleDrouin, a developmentalpsychologistwho specializes insocial media and the growing use ofsexting. "Sextinghas become so integrated with sexuality. This is a part of becoming a sexual person in this decade."

Drouinsays she is discouraged by how little people can do to protect their privacy and private images.

"I think we need a really aggressive campaign telling young people that these photos are forever," she said. "Teenagers are so vulnerable. They don't know yet if these photos will haunt them in the future."

Levindisagrees.

"Its human nature to take photos. The education there will fail," he said. "And people go onRedditbecause they want to socialize. You're not going to change the way human beings behave. You want to find a way for them to get recourse and a legal system that helps them do that. We are missing that."