Tumblr Has a Massive Creepshots Problem (vice.com) 122
After Reddit famously banned the creepshots sub-reddit, which shared non-consensual, revealing photos of women, Tumblr now has a slew of users pushing out similar photos across at least dozens of dedicated blogs, a Motherboard investigation has found. From the report: Simply typing 'creepshot' or related terms into Tumblr's built-in search function returns a steady stream of tagged posts, and Google queries easily reveal links to relevant Tumblr blogs. Motherboard found just under 70 Tumblr blogs focused on sharing creepshots, most with a bevy of content. In some cases, the Tumblrs also host 'upskirt' photos or videos, where a camera is deliberately, and stealthily, positioned to look up an unsuspecting person's skirt. Some of the subjects of these images, as well as many of the clothed creepshots, appear to be young, possibly teenagers.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg, there are probably hundreds of these accounts filming in high schools, college campuses, in malls, and on the streets. And Tumblr seems to not care at all about the problem," an anonymous tipster, who first alerted Motherboard to the issue, wrote in an email. One of the most popular creepshot Tumblrs has some 11,000 followers, and one of its posts has over 53,000 interactions linked to it, including reblogs, where the video or picture then appears on the user's own Tumblr, spreading the content further.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg, there are probably hundreds of these accounts filming in high schools, college campuses, in malls, and on the streets. And Tumblr seems to not care at all about the problem," an anonymous tipster, who first alerted Motherboard to the issue, wrote in an email. One of the most popular creepshot Tumblrs has some 11,000 followers, and one of its posts has over 53,000 interactions linked to it, including reblogs, where the video or picture then appears on the user's own Tumblr, spreading the content further.
Goddan tumblr (Score:1)
if it's not one thing it's another.
Get on board and start cracking down on your users and tell them how to behave!
We have to get rid of all the russian nazis before they influence any more elections
Re: (Score:3)
You point this out the day before St. Patrick's Day celebrations...
There will be many men about in skirts/kilts tomorrow.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Traps?
Re: (Score:3)
Is there some reason that they can't say women's skirts??
Is there a reason you specifically are suggesting that non-women don't wear skirts? Person's skirts is not only politically correct, it's also pretty damn accurate given what pictures are available on the internet.
Re: (Score:1)
Women wearing skirts are the norm....are you denying that, or are the majority of skirt wearers where you live non-female?
Common sense and all that you know.
Re: (Score:2)
Women wearing skirts are the norm....are you denying that
If you don't know how logic or language works then yes, I'm denying that. Or you could re-read what I said and try to make sense of English.
where you live
Where I live has nothing to do with the location I specified : Internet.
Do you even English man?
Re: (Score:1)
Type Creepshot into Bing and you just get a bunch of pics of females in public.
So the big deal is that someone is taking your picture as you walk around where everyone can see you?
Re: (Score:2)
Or maybe it's not a tech problem? (Score:5, Insightful)
If a group of users who like posting pictures like this just move from one site to another like locusts, it's not really a problem with wherever they land - it's a social and people problem.
What can you do about it? Nothing at all, that's what. They will just go somewhere else even if you somehow managed to block them from whatever site they are on now.
Re: (Score:1)
The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. [wikiquote.org]
- John Gilmore, 1993.
Much wisdom from the key developers of the early Internet has been lost or ignored, to our detriment.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Library? So, in full view of an entire room of other people
Ask me how I know you have NEVER seen the computer room in a library in recent years.
Yes, people really do view ANYTHING there. Even if they are not supposed to... why does this surprise anyone at all???
Re: (Score:2)
The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. [wikiquote.org]
- John Gilmore, 1993.
Much wisdom from the key developers of the early Internet has been lost or ignored, to our detriment.
Which is why twitter and Facebook will cease to be relevant in the near future
Re: (Score:1)
That only solves the problem for you though, not in the general case. :-)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
This isn't about censorship and you know it. This is about consent. The subjects of these pictures did not give consent, and it is totally reasonable for a person to expect that such pictures of themselves will not be taken in the absence of consent.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not a tech problem, but it is a character problem. The reddit folks didn't ban this because they cared about the victims. They did it because of public pressure.
Tumblr (and previously reddit) could have taken a stand that the victims' rights outweighed the posters' rights and gained some respect. Could have.
Of course it doesn't make it go away. But it could remove one "legitimate" (ok, it's Tumblr) source of implied approval.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not a tech problem, but it is a character problem. The reddit folks didn't ban this because they cared about the victims. They did it because of public pressure.
Tumblr (and previously reddit) could have taken a stand that the victims' rights outweighed the posters' rights and gained some respect. Could have.
Of course it doesn't make it go away. But it could remove one "legitimate" (ok, it's Tumblr) source of implied approval.
If you set the precedent that a forum operator is responsible for all user content, you may not like the result.
I am old enough to remember the 1990s, a time when the existence of transgendered people was not a topic one could discuss in front of children. If the internet had existed in its current form, Reddit and Tumblr would have faced significant pressure to disallow forums that discussed the existence of transgendered people. Should they have caved to that pressure? I would say "no", because I don't
Re: (Score:1, Interesting)
What can you do about it? Nothing at all, that's what. They will just go somewhere else even if you somehow managed to block them from whatever site they are on now.
You're assuming that the point of these smear campaigns is to make people stop taking and sharing creepshots. It's about trying to discredit and kill sites that allow user-supplied content, or if not that then to give corporations and special interest organizations free reign to install automated content scanners, issue take downs and block whatever it is they don't like. Or just spinning up rumors to smear competing services even though your photo sharing service has many creepshots of its own, because mos
BINGO (Score:1)
These Creep-Shot people are just being used as tools to try and kill off free and open expression. It's impossible to say which of these are jerks, and which are false flag operations trying to present the problem as worse than it really is.
I don't like creep shots but I hate censorship far more.
Re:BINGO (Score:4, Interesting)
So you don't like "censorship".
Great. Here's what actually happened. Third parties did some basic research and found the existence of this material on Tumblr's site. Other people then pressure Tumblr to remove that content. Tumblr will presumably then remove this content. If you find this series of events objectionable, what's your preferred alternative? Should Tumblr be compelled by law to host them? Should third parties be prevented from pointing them out? Are you just saying you'd prefer Tumblr ignore them?
I have a hard time seeing any censorship here. This appears to be a bunch of people using their freedom to speak their mind, and (presumably) a company agreeing with them. It's not really censorship for me to paint over your graffiti on my wall. It's my wall. I get to decide what I want it to say. You can go paint your own wall. You may wish Tumblr would do otherwise, but it's their wall. They aren't obligated, legally or ethically, to display anything they don't want on that wall.
Lost me there (Score:3)
Tumblr will presumably then remove this content.
Presumably? It's Tumblr. 10% chance it's gone, 15% chance it's highlighted.
If you find this series of events objectionable, what's your preferred alternative? Should Tumblr be compelled by law to host them?
Yep, if you are going to run an image hosting site, cannot discriminate based on content, only illegal materials get removed. If someone wants to say creepy images are illegal, fine, but they have to codify what that MEANS.
They aren't obligated, legally or
Re: (Score:2)
No, the story here is that as one site forces them out it just relocates the problem somewhere else. Same as in real life.
Companies apparently need to be on the lookout for migrating swarms of arseholes looking to turn their site into something creepy or illegal. None of them are motivated to do more than move them on.
Re: Or maybe it's not a tech problem? (Score:1)
Re: Slashdot has a liberal bias problem (Score:4, Insightful)
This is why you can't get a date.
Re: Slashdot has a liberal bias problem (Score:3)
I understand. It's hard when nobody wants you around. Have you tried not being creepy? That usually works.
Re: (Score:3)
Creepy is only a problem if you are ugly. No one thinks you're creepy if they think you're hot. So, don't try to not be creepy, that is impossible. Instead, try being hot.
Barring that, keep an attorney around and have him do everything for you, as your council.
Re: (Score:1)
Here's a hint: it's not your looks. You just can't hide it. If you could stand to do what that takes, you wouldn't need to. Which isn't to say that you'll never be non-creepy; it just means that you'll first have to recognize your own need to change and grow as a person.
Re: (Score:2)
No one thinks you're creepy if they think you're hot. So, don't try to not be creepy, that is impossible.
Huh, I didn't realise I'm incredibly hot. I mean I guess I must be since I'm not creepy.
Re: (Score:2)
Creepy is only a problem if you are ugly. No one thinks you're creepy if they think you're hot.
Ya, but then the problem just escalates from creepy to inappropriate behavior, abusive, or some other worse issue. Being "creepy" is usually a sign of even more deep problems, not just some quirk. The same things shows up when the genders are reversed. The first thing other guys ask when they hear some other guy had a "stalker" was if she was good looking. I usually interject the answer "No, otherwise she'd be a "psycho ex-girlfriend", to the agreement of the guy that had the stalker.
Re: Slashdot has a liberal bias problem (Score:2)
That contraption you built out of pillows and a fleshlight doesn't count, you know.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, this is rich: you're criticizing someone and simultaneously making the very same mistake that they are allegedly making.
Re: Slashdot has a liberal bias problem (Score:2)
When you seek to destroy people, you lose any claim to protection: you become the thing people need protectiob from. Nothing but a common bully, who deserves what all bullies deserve.
Re: Slashdot has a liberal bias problem (Score:2)
These are pictures of these people out in public places, dressing how they chose to dress and often not even showing faces.
This is irrelevant. Failing to understand this is a large part of what makes you so creepy.
Re: (Score:1)
This is the pinnacle of sexism of the left. Have no argument against what a man says? Attack his social status and be praised for doing so.
The left is not about the truth, or argumentation, or the benefit of society. The left has moved away from liberalism long ago. Today, the left is about gaining control for the left. Facts that conflict don't matter. Argumentation doesn't matter. Even being hypocritical doesn't matter. Only group cohesion.
The tribe is absolute.
Re: (Score:2)
This is the pinnacle of sexism of the left. Have no argument against what a man says? Attack his social status and be praised for doing so.
Dude, they're called creepshots for a reason. They're taken by creeps, for creeps, and the fan community openly embraces this. What exactly did you expect?
The left is not about the truth, or argumentation, or the benefit of society. The left has moved away from liberalism long ago. Today, the left is about gaining control for the left. Facts that conflict don't matter. Argumentation doesn't matter. Even being hypocritical doesn't matter. Only group cohesion.
The tribe is absolute.
You've made one very flawed
Re: Slashdot has a liberal bias problem (Score:2)
Re: Slashdot has a liberal bias problem (Score:2)
I understand that you'll probably take some pride and find some validation in being modded up here.
I actually prefer the down-mods. They're how I know I'm striking nerves.
But consider who are agreeing with you: nerds. Nerds who have never been successful with women.
Well, nerds are this site's core target audience. Are you admitting that you don't belong here?
But "nerds who have never been successful with women"? Man, I remember my own unsuccessful phase. I was a total creep, just like you and your fellow foreveralones, and for many of the same reasons. I wasn't as far along the path of bitterness, but I was on it. This was a long time ago, before /r9k/ or even the red pill, but you'd have recogniz
Re: (Score:2)
People are posting pictures of people that they took in public
Re: (Score:1)
What litigation? No one is being prosecuted or sued here. The government isn't stepping in and telling anyone what they can or cannot say or do. Users have the right to criticize Tumblr for what they perceive Tumblr to be falling down at. Tumblr has the right to control how its property is used and how its brand is presented.
You sound really fired up about free speech, right up to the part where you'd prefer no one else have any of it.
Gotta say it. (Score:2, Redundant)
Pics or it didn't happen.
[ What? Don't look at me like that; you were thinking it too. :-) ]
Define "creepshot" (Score:1)
For those of us who are not in fact creeps and don't necessarily want first-hand exposure to it, what _is_ a "creepshot" and why is it assumed that all readers of this site already know the term?
Re: (Score:1)
For those of us who are not in fact creeps and don't necessarily want first-hand exposure to it, what _is_ a "creepshot" and why is it assumed that all readers of this site already know the term?
Literally the first line of the summary should make that clear? "[...] non-consensual, revealing photos of women"
Re: (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:3)
More than that! (Score:1)
Why is this a problem? (Score:2)
The upskirt images are not appropriate or legal, but it is legal to take images of people in public settings, isn't it?
We have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public, as the US government and the media industry has made quite clear.
Also, while it is amazing what some of these woman are wearing in public, presumably they were aware of their appearance when they left the house?
Re: (Score:3)
And nor should they (Score:1)
Maybe if people stop expecting that they have a right to privacy when out in public they can stop getting angry when someone sees them. Seriously google creepshot. If the resulting photo of normally fully dressed women viewed from public and obvious places annoys you then maybe you are part of the problem. If finding a picture of yourself pointing your g-string in the direction of a camera through skin tight leggings which are about 4 sizes too small disturbs you, maybe you shouldn't dress that way in publi
Reap what you sow (Score:1)
Wear revealing clothes and do your absolute best to flaunt your sexuality in public?
People ("creeps") will take notice. Why are you mad? Attention is exactly what you wanted isn't it?
Oh, wait, I know why you're mad. It's because you feel humiliated when people just take pictures of what you're flaunting.
Well you can't have your cake and eat it too, princess. Wear a whore's uniform and try to get extra attention from
Re: (Score:2)
Wear revealing clothes and do your absolute best to flaunt your sexuality in public?
If someone has to take a picture secretly, and that picture is not being taken for the express and specific purpose of uncovering some misdeed, then that's a sign that they are doing something wrong. The standard has always been that you don't look up people's skirts. If you're talking about pictures of people in public which are taken without deception or disguise, then I'm actually with you (although not quite so frothy about it) but if you're talking about upskirts and the like, you're off your nut.
No, Tumblr doesn't care (Score:3)
It's the same with their rape videos, or videos showing torture. And no, I don't mean the simulated ones. I mean women who are unconscious being raped, one on a kitchen counter fighting off her attacker, and so on.
That's the real reason Tumblr forced people to get an account. They think they're hiding these photos/videos but as this story shows, it's really just a shell game.
Oh tumblr! (Score:3)
You're like the parking lot behind the Dollar General where all the degenerates hang out.