DSWD warns on social media account extortion

FACEBOOK wants to stop revenge porn BEFORE it happens - by getting people to send in their own naughty sex pictures. The social network is testing a system which uses image recognition to identify revenge porn and automatically delete it. Getty Images Social media makes it terrifyingly easy to spread revenge porn But this can only work if Facebook has copies of the dirty pictures in the first place. Zuckerberg’s firm is running a pilot scheme in Australia and has teamed up with the Office of the eSafety Commissioner to trial its new idea. Julie Inman Grant, e-Safety Commissioner, said people who were worried about “image-based abuse” should give Facebook their sexy pics. “It would be like sending yourself your image in email, but obviously this is a much safer, secure end-to-end way of sending the image without sending it through the ether,” she told ABC. Getty Images Would you be…

  A New York state bill that would outlaw ‘revenge porn’ has been shelved until next year, after a late lobbying effort by tech giant Google succeeded in blocking a vote in the state Senate. The bill, which existed in legal limbo since 2013, was pushed through the State Assembly after a New York Post article last year highlighted the problem. It would have made the distribution of sexual images without the consent of the person shown punishable by up to a year in jail, and it would have helped victims sue web hosts to remove the images. Governor Andrew Cuomo had vowed to sign the bill once it passed the Senate and made its way to his desk. However, after a last-minute lobbying campaign by The Internet Association, working on behalf of Google, senators adjourned for the year without a vote, putting the bill on ice once again until…

  Ohio lawmakers are working on legislation that would protect victims of so-called revenge porn; the unauthorized posting of intimate photos on the internet. Victims say the objective is to humiliate victims and in some cases, to profit from the posting of photos that were taken in private. Katelyn Bowden of Youngstown says her explicit photos turned up on-line when a thief stole her ex-boyfriend’s cell phone. Police even knew who took her phone. “I was told the only thing that was illegal was the theft of my cellphone. The only crime committed was cellphone theft. My body didn’t matter. The cellphone had more rights than me,” Bowden said. Bowden along with Belinda Berry founded BADASS or Battling Against Demeaning and Abusive Selfie-Sharing. It’s a grassroots organization aimed at helping victims of revenge porn. Berry says she became a victim of revenge porn when she had taken photos with a…

  A New Richmond man has entered a plea in a revenge porn case. Wyoming County Prosecutor Mike Cochrane said it is the first case in the county under the new statute, which became law last year. Timothy McNulty, 47, pleaded no contest early last week. According to Cochrane, McNulty sent intimate photos of an ex-girlfriend to another person. A first offense is a misdemeanor, Cochrane reported. A second offense is a felony. A first offense carries penalties of a fine of no less than $1,000 and no more than $5,000. There can also be jail time of up to a year. While referred to as “revenge porn,” the prosecutor said the statute is actually called “non-consensual disclosure of private, intimate images.” McNulty was charged in November 2017. Lt. Will Hall of the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department was the investigating officer. Source link

“Sextortion” is the fastest growing crime against children on the Internet, according to the FBI. But no official records are kept, and only five states have made sextortion, where a perpetrator threatens victims with releasing explicit images unless they perform pornography on demand, a standalone crime. Prosecutors say if we don’t start actively telling kids—with some victims as young as seven years old—that sextortion could happen to anyone (even those who have never shared a single intimate image), the problem is only going to get worse. Although the FBI does not yet officially track instances of sextortion, the currently available data indicates that the problem is expanding. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children founda 150 percent rise in reports of sextortion to its CyberTipline between 2014 and 2016. The stories are horrifying. A little girl who is threatened that her dog will be killed if she doesn’t send…

  The defendant in a “revenge porn” lawsuit has filed documents in court alleging two men may be responsible for sharing intimate images of a Brandon woman. Terry Lynn Peters filed the action against the men. She’s the defendant in a lawsuit filed by Brittany Roque, a woman who alleges Peters distributed intimate images of her to the Brandon Police Service. Roque had applied for a job as a police officer with the service. She is now a police officer in Rivers, Man. “If any photos of Brittany Roque were in fact distributed, they were distributed by either Devon LeBlanc or Ryan Friesen,” says the third-party claim Peters filed in Court of Queen’s Bench in Brandon. In court documents, Roque describes LeBlanc as “a close personal friend and the husband of another close personal friend.” Friesen is a Brandon police officer. Roque says she sent intimate images of herself via text message to him during a brief romantic relationship in 2015. Revenge…

  Cyberbullying can be a very upsetting experience for people, especially young ones, who are targeted, and there are ways to counter and deal with it, says Inspector Tony Wakelin. OPINION: Cyberbullying is bullying. It’s using the internet, a mobile phone or other technology like a camera to hurt somebody or embarrass them. Bullying on the internet or mobiles can include anonymous text messages being sent to your child’s phone, posting nasty or threatening comments on social media, or sending mean or embarrassing photos or videos of them to other people. Cyberbullying can involve people spreading rumours. It takes many forms and some of these may be harder to deal with than others. Around one in five NZ high school students say they’ve been cyberbullied and many say it makes them feel scared, depressed, angry or ashamed. If they get sent nasty messages outside of school time, sometimes it can feel hard to escape the bullying. Posting…

  (istockphoto)   After years of stalled efforts at the state level, New York City is now pursing its own legislation to criminalize “revenge porn”—the act of sharing explicit photos of a person with the “intention to cause economic, emotional or physical harm.” Under the new bill, which is expected to get a committee vote in the council next month, sleazy offenders who share “intimate images” without their subject’s consent will face one year in jail and a fine of $1,000. Victims may also pursue civil penalties—including “compensatory and punitive damages”—in the absence of a criminal conviction. The bill was first introduced by Queens Councilman Rory Lancman last September, and has since gained the support of both Mayor de Blasio and the NYPD. “It is critically important for the laws in New York City to catch up with our technology to provide protections for New Yorkers from such abuse,” Lancman…

  “Just because the victim is a man and the suspect is a woman this time, the country is investigating the case differently,” wrote one petitioner, according to the JoongAng daily. “Remember the cases of women who were victims of hidden camera crimes and went to the police for help?” wrote another. “They would be told, ‘Well you had it coming to you, because you didn’t dress modestly’ or ‘We can’t catch the culprit. It’s too hard’.” For years, South Korean women have been victims of what was described by the Korea Expose website as a “spy-cam porn epidemic”. They have been secretly filmed in public bathrooms, changing rooms, or a camera has been pointed up their skirt on an escalator, and the footage is then posted online. In 2016, the police closed down Soranet, one of the most notorious websites for hidden camera footage of female body parts, and…

Getty Images Taking a photo for commercial purposes is a different thing - as it is if you’ve purchased a ticket to a concert have to abide by their terms - however legally, nobody can claim copyright to their own image. “So long as you are on public property you can publish the photo,” says Stacks law firm. “But if you publish a photo taken by someone else you run into copyright issues. Get permission to use it.” However, lawyer Geoff Baldwin says if someone has a voyeuristic purpose, which can generally be thought of as capturing images of private activities for your own or someone else’s sexual gratification, it is likely to be an offence under the Crimes Act 1900 [NSW]. The distribution of ‘intimate images’ - like revenge porn - can also be an offence under the same Act. Under Australian law, it is also an offence in…

  MERRIMACK – A Manchester man wanted for allegedly posting “private sexual images” of an acquaintance on the internet turned himself in to Merrimack police. Officials said Wednesday that Aaron Mattil, 29, of Six Mulsey St., was charged with one count of nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images, a Class B felony. He was booked at police headquarters and later released on $2,500 personal recognizance bail pending arraignment, which police said is scheduled for July 5 in Hillsborough County Superior Court-South in Nashua. Police said they issued the warrant for Mattil’s arrest earlier this month, shortly after the alleged victim filed a complaint. “It is alleged that Mattil disseminated private sexual images of an acquaintance … without their consent,” police said. They said Mattil allegedly posted them via text message. According to their archives, Merrimack police arrested Mattil on April 23, charging him with two counts of violation of a…

  Victims of revenge porn are being asked to share their stories with North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, as part of a campaign to close a ‘legal loophole’ in order to help protect their identities. Julia Mulligan has today launched an anonymous survey to gather evidence and bolster her efforts to see Image Based Sexual Abuse, or ‘Revenge Porn’, reclassified from a communications offence to a sexual offence. One in three allegations since 2015 are believed to have been withdrawn, according to a Freedom of Information requests noted by the NYPCC. It is believed this is often due to the lack of anonymity under the current classification of victim’s identities, and the distress this causes. Mrs Mulligan said: “The law on revenge porn is fundamentally flawed. It needs to change and this survey will provide me with more evidence in my campaign to ensure the legal loophole is closed…

  Bill Moak, Consumer Watch Published 7:00 a.m. CT June 30, 2021 CLOSE   Facebook is testing out a new program to combat revenge porn, but there’s a catch. USA TODAY REVENGE PORN(Photo: WUSA) Last year, a court in Washington state awarded $8.9 million to a woman whose former online romantic partner allegedly began harassing her after their relationship ended. Courtney Allen and her husband sued Arizona resident Todd Zonis after Allen broke off the online dalliance. The Allens accused Zonis of posting intimate photos and videos, sending them to friends and family and initiating a campaign of harassment. After a jury sided with the Allens and awarded the record-setting verdict, Zonis denied the charges and appealed. The jury award was the largest to date involving what’s been called “revenge porn” or nonconsensual pornography, the act of sending photos, videos and intimate information out over the internet after a relationship…

  Posted: May. 30, 2018 12:01 am A Hackettstown man and former Middlesex County municipal fire inspector who leveraged his father’s murder conviction and alleged mob ties to scare a real estate developer admitted to conspiring to extortion, according to federal prosecutors. Billy Donnerstag, 49, pleaded guilty on May 15 before federal Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark to conspiracy to commit extortion using threats of force, violence and fear, according to a release from the office of the U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito. Between December 2016 and June 2017, Donnerstag conspired with Joseph P. Martinelli, 64, of Kenvil, to extort the developer, who was not named in the indictment against Donnerstag and only identified as being located in Middlesex County. According to the indictment against Donnerstag, the pair told the owner that he or she had not paid for the sale of a property a decade earlier and in an…

  William Morris Whatley II (Source: Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office) TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, AL (WSFA) - An Alexander City man is behind bars after he was arrested in what police call a “revenge porn” case. Alexander City Police Department officers arrested William Morris Whatley II, 30, June 12. Alex City Police Chief Jay Turner said this all stemmed from a domestic violence situation. Police reports show the victim filed a petition for a Protection from Abuse order on May 30 against Whatley, her ex-boyfriend. Subsequently Whatley was charged with third-degree domestic violence charges. Court documents indicate the victim was meeting with an officer about the domestic violence case when she received a message from a friend showing a sexually explicit video. That’s when the victim was advised to see another officer and file an additional report for a “Revenge Porn” charge. The victim and Whatley went before a judge related to the protection from…