Over 100 of today’s most popular celebrities, including Jennifer Lawrence, fell victim to a hack that invaded and stole their private photos. Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
By Felicia Czochanski
On Sept. 1, 2014, a vicious wave of attacks on privacy raced through the Internet at a speed known only to those fluent in hacker jargon and computer programming. Hundreds of nude and suggestive photos of high-profile female celebrities, which had been allegedly acquired through a major hack, were leaked on the websites 4chan and Reddit. Over 100 celebrities such as Kate Upton, Jennifer Lawrence and Arianna Grande became instant victims, as hackers stole personal photos from their cell phones.
The public’s reaction to the scandal seemed to move in stages. First, they believed that this breach of privacy seemed so impossible that upon hearing the rumors, they raced to their smartphones and computers to see if it was true. Most of the public clicked and tapped until they found what they thought could not really exist, and in this way the public also violated the privacy of over 100 high-profile female celebrities.
When people realized the pictures were real, more posts began to flood news outlets and public Internet forums. The most popular comments ran along the lines of “how did they do it,” “I can’t believe she took nude photos” or for the less computer savvy, “where can I find the photos so I can see for myself?”
As the “Ohmigod, no way” stage of the public’s reaction began to die, a more rational response began to grow and spread among the masses. The details of the incident had become clearer; only women had been targeted and had their privacy grossly violated. The time had come to stop viewing the hacking as simply an unheard of, entertaining scandal and to start getting angry that the rights of so many women had been infringed upon with such widespread sexual harassment.
Actress Lena Dunham, whose phone was not hacked, pleaded with her fans to react to the photos with integrity through a series of tweets. She wrote, “The way in which you share your body must be a CHOICE. Support these women and do not look at the pictures,” as well as “Remember, when you look at these pictures you are violating these women again and again. It’s not okay.”
Fortunately, it was not long before a lot of the public started to follow Lena’s lead and react similarly. Now it was Reddit’s turn to blush and peek at the loss of its reputation and credibility forever.
In an ill-thought-out attempt to win back the public’s favor, these websites decided to donate the profits they had made on the pornographic photos to charities. First, because Jennifer Lawrence had once donated to the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), Reddit decided to do the same. Much to its embarrassment, PCF responded to the donation by issuing the following public statement: “We would never condone raising funds for cancer research in this manner. Out of respect for everyone involved, and keeping with our own standards, we are returning all donations that resulted from such posts.”
Reddit was not deterred by this. They immediately began to transfer the rejected donation money to the charity water.org. Not only were these dirty funds rejected again, but Reddit’s donation page was shut down and will eternally read, “You have changed 0 lives to access with safe water.”
This perv-shaming is something that we should see more. A lot of people’s initial reactions were right to judge the hackers for infringing on something so private, but it cannot hurt to remember that the celebrities who took the suggestive and nude photos of themselves are not in the wrong — not in the least bit. It is not illegal or uncommon for people to take sexy and suggestive photos of themselves. As Lena Dunham said, “the way in which you share your body must be a CHOICE.”
The celebrities targeted in this hack did not have the intention of sharing their bodies with the entire Internet community. The photos were their personal belongings, which were stolen from them and unethically and illegally shared with the rest of the world. Nothing makes this ok, and it is my hope that the hackers will be forced to own up to their crimes.
Felicia Czochanksi, FCRH ’17, is an undeclared major from Metuchen, New Jersey. She is the Assistant Opinion Editor at The Fordham Ram.
