Unfortunately, she wasn’t the first victim.
Screenshots shared by the victim to show how her images were violated for sexual purposes.
Recently, a netizen who goes by the name of Christine, exposed a Twitter account for using Instagram photos of herself and countless other girls without their consent for lewd purposes.
When contacted, Christine shared with WORLD OF BUZZ that she originally found out her pictures were being used inappropriately last Friday (17th July) when a friend sent the screenshots of her Instagram photos posted by an unknown Twitter account with perverted and inappropriate captions.
“I found out that there were multiple pictures of me posted alongside perverted captions.” However, Christine was appalled to discover that she wasn’t the only girl who had her personal photos used for obscene viewing. “I was shocked to find out that I wasn’t the only victim. There were quite a few of my friends as well.”
There were several tweets that showed inappropriate captions alongside the pictures.
Upon investigating the account she found some rather disturbing information about the photos. “The content of these posts is clear. If someone wants the photo to be edited into a nude, they will send a direct message to the Twitter account and they will discuss it privately.”
Christine immediately took action and started spamming the account with public replies to demand that these posts be removed. She even posted a Youtube video to raise awareness about her experience. While the user apologised, he merely privatised the account as a response so she had no idea if her photos were still being used for inappropriate purposes. She reported the account and rallied the rest of her friends to do the same. Thankfully, the account has since been removed. However, this isn’t the first time Christine had her personal photos violated for pornographic content.
Not The First Time
She shared with WORLD OF BUZZ, “The first time I experienced something like this was in January 2019 and it was an English account. The post mentioned words that were really sexual and violated my body but didn’t say anything about editing them into n*des.”
Screenshots Christine shared with WOB detailing the first time she was harassed online.
“That time I kept silent and reported the account myself and along with some female friends thinking it will go away on its own, but I was wrong. As this is not the first time already, I knew enough is enough. Someone needs to do something or else it’s just going to get worse.”
Christine told WORLD OF BUZZ she wanted to share her story to raise awareness and prevent other girls from falling victim to these kinds of accounts. “That’s why I decided to share my story, to prevent other girls from becoming victims. And I believe that there is still a lot of these kinds of disgusting accounts out there who are still doing this.” In fact, Christine said she discovered many friends had their pictures inappropriately used in both these occasions.
Don’t Stay Silent
When asked if she had any advice to give girls who have faced similar situations like this, Christine said, “to everyone out there especially the girls, WE SHOULD NOT STAY SILENT whenever we face this kind of online harassment, rather be brave to voice out and ask for help from others!”
“I know it’s really hard to make that first step and just tell people about what you’re facing because the first thing you will feel when you know that your photos are being sexualised is shame. I know exactly how you feel, but no, we shouldn’t feel ashamed because you need to know that it’s not our fault in the first place. It’s those sick people out there who are twisted up in their minds.”
“I would like to ask everyone who is reading this to show love and support for anyone you know who is facing this, and definitely encourage them to be brave to speak out for their rights. These sick people used social media for their disgusting purposes but we, as users of the Internet, can also fight back and defend ourselves and the people around us with the power of social media. Be brave and stay safe!”
You are not alone in your struggle. If you know anyone who has or is dealing with online harassment, do stand with them and report these cases to the authorities.
Also read: Should Victims Be Blamed For Sexual Harassment When Even Religious Clothing Is Sexualised?
