A woman’s lawyer claims Tumblr “has chosen to ignore” revenge porn posted to the platform after it allegedly took three weeks to get a video of her when she was a 17-year-old girl removed from the site.
“Tumblr acts as if it’s a staunch champion of women’s rights by supporting such groups as Planned Parenthood — but it still refuses to help tackle revenge porn, victims say,” wrote The New York Post‘s Julia Marsh on Monday. “A 27-year-old Bronx woman sued the blogging site in Manhattan Supreme Court last week after a tape of her having sex with her boyfriend 10 years ago, when she was just 17, was posted in December and shared 1,200 times.”
According to the Post, the revenge porn video also included a link to the victim’s Facebook page, prompting several strangers to message her with sexual comments.
“I was devastated,” said the victim. “I haven’t stopped crying since.”
The victim’s lawyer, Daniel Szalkiewicz, accused Tumblr of ignoring legal demands for their own personal gain.
“In my opinion, Tumblr has chosen to ignore valid legal demands because they earn more money using victims’ photographs as clickbait than they do protecting minors,” said Szalkiewicz, whose firm specializes in Internet defamation and revenge porn cases.
“Unfortunately, today, technology makes it extremely simple to take an explicit photograph or video and upload it to the internet for the world to see,” explains Daniel Szalkiewicz & Associates on their website. “Whether it be because Revenge Porn is a relatively new trend or because of widespread misconception and victim-shaming, the justice system has struggled to find ways to deal with this crippling new trend.”
“Currently, New York Law does not have a statute that specifically deals with Revenge Porn in comprehensive manner,” it continues. “However, victims have several avenues to pursue recourse, including: defamation, intentional infliction emotional distress, and even copyright infringement in appropriate circumstances.”
There are currently numerous Tumblr accounts that not only post revenge porn, but also seek to find the real life profiles and identities of those featured.
“Please help, [REDACTED] needs full exposure. Facebook, all info. Ill give all info i have to help u get and post. Can we please have [REDACTED] fully exposed?” posted one user on a set of Tumblr revenge porn pictures that Breitbart Tech found after a quick search. “[REDACTED] needs exposure. She’s a total cum slut. Let’s make her viral so she can become the porn star she was meant to be.”
“Find her facebook? Social media?” the post continued. “Ill give any and all info to help.”
Breitbart Tech found numerous accounts that appeared to exclusively deal in revenge porn, most of which contained posts that had been up for weeks.
“I don’t understand how a website could humiliate someone this way,” said one 52-year-old mother who had her private, nude pictures uploaded to Tumblr after losing her phone.
“The posting included links to her LinkedIn and Facebook pages, as well as a recitation of her resume and the message ‘expose the whore,'” reported The New York Post. “It has been commented on more than 50,000 times.”
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.
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