After a massive amount of nude photos of celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton leaked late last August, Reddit has now changed its privacy policy to ban nude photos being posted without permission.
Hackers posted troves of nude and illicit photos on sites like Reddit and 4chan throughout August and September of 2014, and were allegedly able to access the celebrities’ photos because of an Apple iCloud leak. Reddit, who averages 160 million visitors, was heavily criticized for leaving the stolen pictures up, and only later removing some because they were taken when the women were underage or violated copyright rules — not because it was an invasion of privacy.
But in its latest privacy update, Reddit is cracking down on sexually explicit content. The website, known for its lax stance, announced Tuesday that it will prohibit “nude photos or videos of people engaged in sex acts without their prior consent to have it posted,” the New York Times reports.
Reddit’s co-founder and executive chairman said why. (RELATED: 2014 Was The Year Of The Celebrity Nude Photo)
(Photo: Vanity Fair)
“I really want to believe that as we enter the next 10 years of Reddit life, essentially the most trafficked media site on the Internet, the opportunity here to set a standard for respecting the privacy of our users,” Alexis Ohanian said.
The site has since removed all forums that facilitated the trading of nude celebrity photos. (RELATED: Another Batch Of Jennifer Lawrence’s Nude Photos Have Been Released)
(Photo: Sports Illustrated)
After her photos leaked, Lawrence’s publicist confirmed that the photos were of her, but called it a violation of privacy.
“This is a flagrant violation of privacy. The authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence,” the rep said in a statement. (RELATED: Nude Photos Of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton Released In HUGE Leak)