Revenge porn is a particularly insidious type of harassment where an ex-partner publishes sexually explicit images of a former flame online without their consent. Unfortunately, because this is a relatively new crime there isn’t an Australia-wide law to deter offenders, but there are still other options for victims to pursue.
Copyright Takedowns
If your sexually explicit image is a selfie, then you own it, and this means that you can request that online publisher remove it from their sites. This process is called a “DMCA takedown”. There are many providers who offer this service, and a quick Google search will set you on the right path.
Google It
The search engine giant has recently announced that it is taking a progressive approach to the problem of revenge porn.
In June 2015, the Senior Vice-President of Google Search declared, “Revenge porn images are intensely personal and emotionally damaging, and serve only to degrade the victims — predominantly women. So going forward, we’ll honour requests from people to remove nude or sexually explicit images shared without their consent from Google Search results”.
Since then, the search engine has streamlined it’s reporting platforms to accomodate the massive number of requests it receives every day. Google’s removal process starts with this online form.
Seek Legal Help
While Australia does not have federal laws specifically relating to revenge porn, there may be other legal avenues you can take. Online harassment and defamation are both crimes that posts made about you may fall into – so it’s worth getting a lawyer to explain what you need to prove if you want to pursue legal action against the person who is distributing your explicit pictures.
