Emma Watson Nude Threat
A site threatened to release nude photos of Emma Watson over the weekend. Reuters

Last month, a shocking stockpile of celebrity nude photos, including Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, surfaced on the internet. The graphic photos were compiled on an anonymous image board on 4Chan, a sleazy website responsible for allowing its users to anonymously share celebrity nudes.

According to reports, the private photos of as many as 101 female celebrities have been obtained via a "brute force" hack that exploits Apple iCloud. Recently, an ominous campaign called "EmmaYouAreNext.com" is threatening to also release hacked nude images of Emma Watson on Saturday, Sept. 27.

Initially, many assumed the threat to release Emma Watson's nude photos was a response to her stirring speech on feminism and gender equality. Watson delivered the speech at the United Nations headquarters over the weekend as the United Nations women's goodwill ambassador.

"She makes stupid feminist speeches at UN, and now her nudes will be online, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH," read a disturbing comment posted on 4Chan. Countless more comments that are too vulgar to quote share a similar sentiment. At the same time, the Emma Watson nudes threat was also met with an equally supportive response:

"If her stolen nude photos are leaked on the Internet in retaliation for her work, that will not mean that she was irresponsible or reckless, it will mean that she is brave,” Amanda Taub wrote on Vox. “Regardless of whether any photos are released, the threats against Watson are already an attack on all of us. And we should all take it personally.”

Thankfully, reports confirm that the EmmaYouAreNext.com website is only a hoax after all. EmmaYouAreNext.com now redirects visitors to the Rantic Marketing website. The mission for Rantic Marketing was to raise awareness of the violation of privacy on the internet.

According to Rantic Marketing, celebrity publicists hired the company to launch a campaign to end violation of privacy by shutting down 4Chan. A statement written to 4Chan petition asking for digital signatures was also put into place against 4Chan:

"We have been hired by celebrity publicists to bring this disgusting issue to attention. The recent 4Chan celebrity nude leaks in past two months have been an invasion of privacy and is also clear indication that the internet NEEDS to be censored. Every Facebook like, share & Twitter mention will count as a social signature and will be step closer to shutting down."

According to Rantic Marketing, EmmaYouAreNext.com received a total of 48 million visits, seven million shares on Facebook, and three million tweets. Despite, the controversial method of raising awareness, it demonstrates just how effective the campaign was, and more disturbingly, it also reveals just how many people were hoping to see naked photos of the young actress.

However, according to Business Insider, we may be dealing with "hoaxception," as Rantic Marketing may not be real. Business Insider reported that Rantic Marketing is a fake company run by a gang of prolific internet spammers used to quickly capitalize on internet trends for page views. Whoa. mind is blown.

Now it's your turn: Let us know if you believe a campaign and petition could bring an end to violation of privacy on the internet. Share your thoughts in the comment section! Be sure to watch Emma Watson's inspiring speech before you UN in the video below:

© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.