Revenge porn and how to handle it if you are a victim

Ravish (name changed) was shocked to see evidently morphed obscene pictures of his close friend Naresh (name changed) and Naresh's new bride. When he contacted Naresh, he was informed that this has happened earlier too.

The photos were published by someone whom Ravish had recently accepted as a friend on Facebook. Ravish didn't recognise the person, but did see some 'common friends'. He quickly marked it as spam and reported it to Facebook. The fraudster doing this was suspected to be probably someone who may have been an ex-lover of Naresh's wife or someone who really hates Naresh.

Mira (name changed) tells how she was added to a WhatsApp group, wherein her neighbour's explicit videos were shared. This group included all their relatives, common friends and whoever knew the ex-boyfriend. In this case, they know the perpetrator and the reason why he is doing it.

Revenge porn is sharing explicit images or videos without their consent. And, this content created may be consensual or non-consensual. In Ravish's friend's case, it were morphed photos while in Mira's neighbour's case content was consensual, but she didn't see how it would come to haunt her once she parted ways with her boyfriend.

Morphing images or sharing explicit images of an ex-partner for revenge has been on a rise. And, the social-age makes it easier than ever before. Shaming someone online is considered as an achievement by the one seeking revenge.

Now, this victim could be 'you'. A friend turned foe or an ex-partner or simply some lunatic or hacker trying to make money or damage your reputation.

Now, how can you avoid this. There is no foolproof method, but the key is not to engage with any sexting that involves photos and videos. This 'no video/photo' rule applies to almost everyone in your life, including your husband. It could also lead to sextortion. 

Avoid request from strangers on social media, especially on Facebook. However, in Ravish's friend’s case, the perpetrator sent request to others waiting for at least someone in the list to accept it. In such as case, it is best to report the matter to Facebook and also lodge a police complaint with the cyber cell division of your area. So, you can first report the matter to the hosting site and have the image removed.

Offenders can be booked under section 67A of the IT Act for circulation of obscene content. However, the perpetrator could take a defense that he was not engaged in filming or sharing the obscene photo with others, and if the victim wouldn't have willingly shared the image, then the situation could have been avoided. So, it is best not to share any explicit content with anyone. Let words do the magic. And, if you are adamant on sharing a photo, then better ensure that your face or familiar surrounding aren't in the image.

In order to avoid morphed images, it is best to keep the hordes of photos you post online 'private'. They shouldn’t be accessible to anyone except for your friends on the list. The same applies to your WhatsApp profile picture. Facebook has added a photo security feature, and you could add that as a layer. However, we can't be sure how much it would help. Do not accept any unknown Facebook requests and keep your profile private from unknown prying eyes.