There was a major leak of nude videos online at the start of the lockdown this year which were shared through a number of social media channels. Leaked nudes online or elsewhere is anyone’s ultimate nightmare since it exposes their privacy to the world and renders them helpless because there is absolutely no way to regulate the internet.
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With the ongoing pandemic, there has been an increase in leaking explicit content on the internet as most people have become idle and are spending more time online. Unfortunately, the affected parties end up distressed and frustrated when such content is circulated. When such content is exposed, the parties involved are frequently traumatized and humiliated. This post will discuss what to do when one’s nudes are leaked online.
Seeing that such situations usually take place without people’s consent, it is important to understand how this can best be prevented and in the worst case scenario, what alternatives are available when the leak has already happened.
The spread of explicit images or videos can happen under a variety of circumstances. A number of times people’s accounts can be hacked. In the event that someone is hacked, the hackers gain access to any information that they want to get.
One of the most common ways is when people share this content with people that they trust. However, these people choose to share it with other people which leads it to circulate quickly enabled by social media. This usually happens because of malicious intent. The non-consensual sharing of such explicit content is categorized as revenge porn.
Other times, the parties involved might lose their phones seeing that theft of devices is quite common in Uganda. The phone could be unlocked by the thieves allowing them to gain full access to all sorts of information.
To a lesser extent, people can willingly offer such content to online websites that are willing to pay for it. However, with time people could realize that they don’t want this content on the internet anymore. So what can one do when their nudes leak online and they want them to be removed?
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What to do after leaked nudes are circulated online
When something like this happens, there aren’t many options. First and foremost, prevention is the best course of action. Do not take nude pictures or make videos since you risk having this content distributed on the internet.
If you have any, delete them from your phone gallery, Google Drive and icloud to stay safe incase of any hacks.
Use multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication is one way to protect your accounts as it provides layers of security that ask you to verify whether you are indeed the true owner of the account you want to access. You’ll need to provide evidence more than once as you log in verifying that you are the owner for example, as you log in to an account, you are required to put in your password, as you progress further, you might be required to use biometrics such as fingerprint. This can protect you from hackers.
Avoid sharing sensitive details with people that could enable email access or passwords to accounts or iCloud rights. This leaves you vulnerable to having your privacy exposed online.
Under unfortunate events that the leaked nudes have already surfaced on the internet, people can report the suspects to the authorities where they can be charged for harassment.
Google which has a policy against non-consensual sharing of intimate or explicit images and videos also offers the opportunity to request for content like leaked nudes to be taken down. It offers help by allowing the affected party or parties to request that the content be removed from Google search results. You can find the details here in full.
It is nearly impossible to take down such content when it has already circulated all over the internet but it does not mean it cannot be done.
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