Katie Couric Asks Me: What Can Be Done About Revenge Porn?

If you’re on a mobile device and can’t see the video above, click here to watch it on Katie’s site. To learn even more about how revenge porn is affecting women, and to see more clip’s from Katie’s show today, head on over to her site and check out the other videos. My notes about how to best stay safe and avoid embarrassing nude photos of yourself from turning up online, as well as what to do if it happens, are below.

Why is it so hard to get revenge porn sites taken down?

1. Once the image is out there and it goes viral, it’s hard to know where it is and who has it. It is especially difficult if they have changed the file name.

2. People don’t know that they can request content to be removed.

· You can contact reputation management companies to basically scare the perpetrators into stopping.
· You’re allowed to contact individual webmasters and ask them to remove any content.
· Google Inside Search is an Online tool to help you remove information about you online.

How pervasive are revenge porn sites? Unfortunately, there is no way to really know the number.

· Recent survey by the FBI in 2010 sited that 20% of teens admitted to sending nude or semi-nude photos of themselves or posting them online.
· 1 in 6 teens have received naked or nearly naked texts from someone they know.

How do you protect yourself from webcam(rats)?

· Turn off or close computer
· Place a sticky note or tape over the webcam when not using it.
· Make sure computer is up to date on antivirus software
· Don’t click on suspicious links—once you download a bad attachment, someone can auto install and begin to navigate through your computer.

Do sites like Snapchat make it easier for revenge porn sites to exist? Unfortunately, yes.

· You think that the photos are only up for 10 seconds
· Someone can take a screen capture of that pic and then post it on porn sites anywhere.

Why is it so difficult to keep things private on social media websites?

· You can put up some hurdles, but if someone wants to get information on you it is definitely doable.
· 60% of teens on Facebook keep their info private
· You have to really trust your family and friends
· Tech can provide hurdles, but ultimately it’s human behavior that is at fault.

Even the most harmless sites like Pintrest are not private. Is this something we just have to accept —if we are going online that nothing is private anymore?

· Actually, Pinterest does have secret boards now to assist with privacy.
· Answer is unfortunately, “Yes”. It’s not fair or right, but it is in our best interest to assume that when we are online that our privacy is compromised.
· It will be this way until the laws can get up to speed.

What are a few things you can do to protect yourself from having an Ooops moment?

· Always wait to post something, don’t just click the “post” button without taking a sec to review what you’re about to put online
· Put social media posts in drafts before you send and check later.
· Get other people’s opinions/interpretations of what you want to send before you send it.
· Don’t “drink and post”—alcohol clouds judgement and can be embarrassing later